The True Measure of Character and Confidence
by Sokai
Summary: She successfully learned that no one can make her feel inferior without her consent. Now, she'll soon learn that having courage is the price that Life exacts for granting peace. They all will. /SEQUEL TO 'BARBIE: PRINCESS CHARM SCHOOL'\
1. Prologue: Saying Goodbye

**The True Measure of Character and Confidence**

**By: Sokai**

**Disclaimer: **I, Sokai, do not claim ownership to the workings of Rainmaker Entertainment, in relation to their "Barbie" movie series (or, indeed, anything else of their creation), specifically (in this particular case), "Barbie: Princess Charm School." However, I can and DO claim to own this story and its inspired ideas FROM said movie.

Note: _Meh. What can I say? When you got an itch, you gotta scratch it. And after having watched "Barbie: Princess Charm School" (Yes, a 'Barbie' movie, and yes I watched it as a twenty-seven-year-old. Me and my older sister, who's a decade older at that, always watch crap from our childhood all the time, since things back then as a kid and growing up were a thousand times better than the crap produced today. But neither of us never truly took to Barbie and all her admittedly a bit more "Like, oh, my God!"-ness around that time, by comparison to nowadays, with her more respectable messages for young kids.) it just HAD to unfortunately spark within me an avid interest to see "what's next?" after its conclusion. _

_And being the writer I am, I just HAD to start dreaming up an answer for it . . . and thus, here we are._

_Damn it. LoL_

_Like I don't already have enough on my plate as it is with my other stories on here and reorganizing my book, now that my Writer's Block seems to have subsided._

_Ah, well. This one I'm going to write honestly more so for myself and to satisfy the nagging 'itch' about it I've had for the last two days since I'd first watched the movie (although I'm sure that my soon to be first time niece or nephew might also enjoy this story within the future, as well =) ). Not sure if I'll complete it (although I at LEAST have the entire story outlined already, anyhow), but for now, here it is (for those of you new people possibly reading this, seeing as this is my first time contributing to THIS section, anyway)._

_Few things to note, however, please: _

_1. Seeing as Blair and Emily's adopted mom's first name never did seem to be revealed, I'm just going to call her "Ellen," after the voice actress who helped give her life. And also giving Dame Devin the first name of "Nikole," also in honor of HER voice actress (although, yes, I see that she spells it as "Nicole," instead. But I wanted to give D.D. a different spelling and also use the French pronunciation of the name, instead, seeing as she's so high and mighty and "I'm better than you ALL!" about herself. That is, she'd "of course" have a special spelling and pronunciation of her birth name, not that oh, the French are that way. That'd be like insulting myself/part of my heritage, since I'm part French, myself =p )._

_2. As their kingdoms never seemed to be revealed by name (although if they had, like in the DVD extras or whatever, oh well; keeping it this way LoL), I'm naming Hadley and Isla's kingdoms "Sportania" ('Spor-tahn-ee-uh'), and "Lyricia" ('Leer-iss-ee-uh'), to make reference to each of their evident, specific talents of sports and music. If Portia's kingdom could be named "Narcissia" and Miranda's "Phila Del Phia," then I can get away with naming the girls' kingdoms cheesy crap like that, as well, damn it. LoL_

_3. Seeing as the movie did seem to have the good intentions when they kept stating that Dame Devin is the sister-in-law of Queen Isabella, but never really really REALLY explained how, exactly, that Delancy, her daughter/someone who came after her, would inherit the throne and not Dame Devin, herself, or even specifically expressed whatever title Delancy has prior to having almost become princess, herself (not to mention that D.D. was also evidently a lottery winner for the charm school, which only further serves to make me wonder all the more about her side of the family and its background, and how, exactly, did her brother end up becoming king, etc), I'd decided to give Delancy the title of "Viscountess," given to her by the Royal Family upon birth (and I'll get more into within the actual story, I'm quite positive), just to make her a few ranks higher than her mother within nobility, since D.D.'s a Dame and all (which I'd also decided to make that a title which had been given to her by the Royal Family, as well), and thus make me "feel better" a bit for why/how it could have been a bit more possible for her to have been overlooked and Delancy would become heir presumptive, instead._

_4. Adding a bit more back story . . . well, to everyone, really, but definitely Miss Privet, which I won't bother to get into now, or else why would you bother to read this story at all, yeah? =)_

_5. While, to ME, at least, the relationship between Prince Nicholas and Blair seemed honestly more so friendship/good buddy based than an actual "I'm UNDENIABLY into you, no questions about it!" (although yes, I'm also sure that they found one another to be handsome/pretty, blah blah, and will probably get married in the future, since we all know that Barbie just "HAS" to have her guy, in majority of her films – Although the ones without her having a set guy in them have truly been the more enjoyable for me, indeed LoL), I suppose that I will give him a cameo or something within this tale . . . much like his role within the actual movie, really. =) Since this story's less about romance and more so about further finding one's way and all that, there's your answer as to "Why?"_

_6. Seeing as it's presumably on Earth (maybe, whatever LoL) and bears the same name (although difference within spelling) and similar "Oh, my God! I'm a princess?" storyline AND some types of magic, anyway, I challenge anyone reading out there to do a crossover of this movie (if you actually watched it, of course) with "Winx Club." Thrust Bloom (and the rest of her friends if you want, I don't care LoL) into Blair's world, though, and HER "Gardania," but set it within the Season 1 timeline, perhaps. Or, Hell, make it Season 1-ish, but doesn't honestly observe every last thing which has happened within it, or the other seasons. I'd been thinking of this, as well, but am far less interested/inclined to write something up, myself. And you already have your Blair/Bloom, Hadley/Aisha/Layla, and Isla/Musa parallels going for ya, as well, in addition to Prince/Kiko and the Sprites/Pixies. LoL So . . . have it, ladies and/or gents! =) Oh, and of course let me know about it/give some kinda recognition in your Author's Notes, if you please. =)_

_That's about it, for now, at least. 'Veterans' to my stories and my style of writing/train of thought are generally used to my various machinations, anyhow and trust them, so . . . yeah. LoL Everyone else, still try to enjoy this (hopefully short, although knowing me, probably will be a billion pages long, sadly) "sequel" (as we pretty much jump right into it, and pick up where the movie had ended)!_

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><p>This chapter was createdwritten in September 2011.

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><p><strong>Prologue: Saying Goodbye <strong>

It was now late evening throughout the flourishing, grand kingdom of Gardania, with a good majority of its citizens still carrying on within the various, separate festivities which had been established within celebration over not only the miraculous return of a member to the Royal Family, but also the crowning of Queen Isabella and King Reginald's long thought to be deceased daughter, _Princess Sophia_, as the newest ruler.

It had certainly been quite the shock, to say the least, although still a greatly joyous revelation to have witnessed, as it had continued to be broadcast on live television, during the rest of the Princess's coronation ceremony.

What had once always been foretold, for _years_, to be the former Heir Presumptive, Viscountess _Delancy's_ special day, was suddenly now that of the _Gardania Princess Charm School's_ lottery winner, _Blair Willow's_ . . . Princess Sophia.

And what an even _greater_ shock it had been for the entire kingdom to have also learned of the final piece to the puzzling mystery pertaining to Queen Isabella and King Reginald's tragic car accident, and of how the traditionally sound, royal vehicle could have curiously lost its control on that fateful April morning. . . .

_Dame Nikole Devin_.

Had no one within the kingdom both seen, _and_ heard it for his or herself, it would have been utterly inconceivable to believe, which, in fact, many of Gardania's citizens _still_ refused to do, even now.

King Reginald's own _sister_, the one who had bravely helped the kingdom gradually continue on and thrive as best as it could without either monarch, or their previously presumed lost child to no longer be there to govern over them . . . the one who had courteously campaigned to keep the doors of its centuries old charm school open, now that the Queen, who had always cherished the establishment, was no longer present to help within its teachings, as she so often enjoyed doing . . . and the one who had humbly accepted the ruling that the next succession to the throne would go to her only child, her young daughter, Viscountess Delancy.

Such a strong fall from grace for the evidently _vindictive_ woman, to go from a once well revered and respected noblewoman, to treacherous _murderess_ in one fell swoop. . . .

It may have been quite the striking blow to the overall _kingdom_ to have learned of such news, but many of its citizens presently surmised that it certainly could not have been anywhere near as devastating to any of them, as it now possibly was to both The Princess, _and_ her newly chosen Lady Royal . . . which made a lot of them wonder just how well each of them would adjust within the coming days. . . .

For now, at least, the satisfaction for the kingdom's general fancy would have to wait, as it was presently bedtime for the newly crowned princess, and indeed the rest of her fellow peers and lady royals.

With the momentarily foiled coronation and overall _Gardania Princess Charm School_ graduation a complete success, having only just winded down a mere half an hour ago, after three full hours of non-stop celebration, Princess Sophia, or simply _Blair_, was now feeling completely exhausted.

And rightfully so, after the adventurous, utterly life changing day that she, as well as her two best friends, Princesses Hadley and Isla had each shared together.

True, she _had_ set out to perhaps finally learn the truth about her mysterious past, speculating strongly that she was indeed the long lost princess of Gardania, as her pair of companions had instantly believed her to be, themselves, the very moment the three of them had come upon the portrait of the Royal Family hanging within the first floor halls of the palace just one day earlier.

But a fair amount of her still admittedly thought that it could have turned out to be one large misunderstanding, after all, and that _Delancy_ was indeed the rightful heir to the throne, all along.

_What a far cry from waiting tables __this__ has become_, Blair mused with a small smile to herself, sleepily entering her shared dorm room with Isla and Hadley, who each trailed behind her while excitedly chatting away with one another.

The trio had just finished changing out of their newly appointed royal gowns and into their bath robes to enjoy one last, luxury spa treatment before bed (which they had each taken care of for themselves, this time, as every last magical sprite assigned to each former princesses and lady royals-to-be had been graciously awarded the entire evening off), and before every student would part ways and return to each of their own kingdoms and homes the following morning.

And because of this, Blair, Hadley, and Isla - In fact, _all_ of the girls still present within the charm school wished to squeeze in as much final bonding time as they could manage, before finally having to call it a night.

"Ohh, I _still_ can't believe everything that's happened today _actually_ happened!" Isla squealed within delight, before rushing forward to affectionately envelope the kindhearted blonde from behind. "That not only did it turn out that you're a _princess_ just like me and Hadley, but _the_ princess - Princess _Sophia!_"

"Yeah, _and_ not to mention the fact that _Delancy_, of all people, actually _helped_ us to get Blair to this point, as well," Hadley added with an agreeable nod and smile, slowly closing their dorm room door as the last to enter.

Blair softly giggled at the unexpected, although greatly appreciated embrace from the raven haired girl, before turning to reciprocate the gesture.

"It definitely seems pretty surreal - _All_ of this, doesn't it? Yet . . . here we are. Here _I_ am, as the newly crowned princess of Gardania," she breathed within a slightly entranced manner, although the broad grin beginning to then spread across her peaches and cream complexion in that moment seemed to readily snap her out of it. "And _best_ of all, _as_ princess, I'll now _finally_ be able to better take care of my family, which is precisely all I'd wanted to do in the first place! Hmm . . . _speaking_ of, where do you suppose -"

"- Blair! Open up, please! It's _me_, Emily! I'm here!"

Blair's previously set smile somehow managed to widen even further in that moment as the trio of princesses then suddenly listened to the greatly familiar (at least, to Blair, naturally), greatly _excited_ voice of her baby sister jovially sound from on the other side of the recently closed dorm room door.

"Right on cue," Blair murmured with another simper, giving a wink to the both of her now, temporarily befuddled looking companions, before moving to reopen the door.

As she did so, she'd nearly gotten toppled over by the sudden, slightly unexpected force of her adopted sibling, who'd just then practically catapulted through open passageway and promptly wrapped herself tightly around the blonde's waist, as that was the highest area of Blair's body the other girl's much shorter stature could allow.

Behind Emily was a sheepishly grinning Delancy, still adorned within all her regal attire, who then curtsied courteously to her new princess within greeting.

"O-Oh! U-Um, _sorry_ about that, Your Royal Highness, but your little sister sure can _run! _And with _me_ still within my four-inch heels, it wasn't _exactly_ an easy feat to keep up!" she remarked with a kind smile, briefly lifting up the hem of her amethyst colored, former princess gown to reveal the matching hued shoes in question.

"It's . . . okay, Delancy," Blair responded in between sharp gasps for air, as Emily still continued to keep her within her vice-like grip, "and _thank_ you for bringing her to our room as I had asked earlier, once both she and our mom had gotten more settled in back over at the palace. But . . . where _is_ our mom? Wasn't she supposed to come along, as well?"

At this, Emily at last released her big sister, granting her mercy, _and_ freedom from her previously breath-taking hold.

"Oh, _right! _Mom told me to tell _you_ that she sends her love and 'goodnight,' and will see you in the _morning_, instead," she happily explained as she gazed admirably up at her now royal sibling. She immediately waved her small hands back and forth within the air as soon as she caught sight of Blair's curious worry being effortlessly etched upon her formerly smiling face. "It's _okay_, though! I mean, she isn't feeling _super_ ill suddenly, or anything like that. She just figured that since this sleepover you'd planned for tonight would most likely consist of even _more_ partying than actual _sleep_, she would sit this one out . . . so to speak. But, _oooh_, how lucky _is_ Mom to get to sleep at the actual _palace_ right now?"

Blair, feeling relieved at hearing that their otherwise frequently afflicted mother was at least _presently_ feeling at ease, gave a light chuckle at her adopted sister's traditional exuberance, before leaning forward to hug her, causing the bath towel formerly wrapped securely upon her blonde head to fall off in the process.

"_Whoops!_ Sorry about that, Sis," she quickly apologized with another giggle, as she pulled back in order to retrieve the partially moist bathroom accessory from off of the lavender hued floor. "_Anyway_, if you want, I can take you _back_ to the palace, and Delancy can show you to whichever bedroom will be yours from n -"

"- No, _way!_ I mean, _yes_, way, of course! But _tonight_, I'm staying _right_ here with you, within the dorm room where it all began," Emily excitedly interrupted, her voice trailing off into a dreamy sort of air as she sidestepped her sister and began to silently survey the spacious, pink bubblegum and lilac schemed room.

A continually silent Hadley gently rolled her lime colored eyes within amusement at the overall display just then, while a grinning Isla moved towards the small, pigtailed brunette.

"Well, in _that_ case, allow me to give you the grand tour, '_M'Lady!'_" she said cheerfully with a wink towards the now beaming girl at her side, quite strongly more so for having been referred to within such a manner, than the actual offer, as the life of Royalty and everything which traditionally went along with it was something which had always been quite the avid interest of Emily's, after all.

Delancy, who had been quietly standing within the still open doorway in all that time and thus, temporarily forgotten, softly then cleared her throat in order to return everyone's attention, or at least Blair's, back onto her.

"Well, then . . . seeing that everything seems to be in order here, I'll just leave you all to it and say goodnight!" she said with a small nod and smile, and was about to execute yet another curtsy towards her princess when her abruptly raised hand stopped her.

"W-Well, _wait_, Delancy! Wouldn't _you_ like to join us? Like Emily just said, I doubt we'll be doing much sleeping, but you're _more_ than welcome to stick around," Blair announced with a smile of her own, as she extended the evening gathering to her Lady Royal, as well.

In truth, while she _did_ wish for Delancy to stay in order to partake within the other girls' private festivities, she was _also_ hoping that it would simultaneously serve as a chance for the two of them to get to know one another better than they presently did . . . which, considering that just up until a mere _day_ ago Delancy had appeared to loathe the very ground Blair _walked_ on, wasn't exactly a great deal.

_One_ moment, the two were more or less sworn enemies (at least, as far as Delancy seemed to be concerned), and the _next_ the two were now not only bonded for life as The Princess and Lady Royal of Gardania . . . but also as unexpected _cousins_ by blood. . . .

Blair was secretly hoping that Delancy was feeling just as eager as she now was to reforge their relationship, especially within the familial sense; however, she felt her heart admittedly sink just a bit as she then watched as the dishwater blonde slowly shook her head within denial to her previously extended invitation.

"O-Oh, well . . . _thanks_, Your Royal Highness, but . . . this looks to be more like a _super_ private affair and all," she began with an awkward sort of smile, "and I'm sure that you guys probably want to do as much bonding and such as you can before having to say goodbye come tomorrow. . . . _Besides!_ I think I'm just gonna head on over to _Portia's_ dorm room and see what _she's_ currently up to, myself! Between you and me, it's _still_ a bit of a surprise to me that she actually _graduated_ and received her crown with the rest of us. And here I was, getting ready to _console_ her, and make her _my_ 'Lady Royal,' while her younger brother, Fiero, would hopefully earn _his_ crown as _prince_ next year - When he is finally old enough to attend 'Prince Charming Academy' - and rule her in her stead! _Funny_ how life truly _can_ surprise you, huh? . . . . W-Well, goodnight, ladies, and good luck to you; I will see _you_ in the morning, Your Royal Highness, _and_ you, Miss Emily. Sleep well. . . ."

Blair, and her two closest friends watched within surprise as the once ice cold and admittedly socially uncouth girl politely closed the door to the trio's shared dorm room, before any of them could have said a word, while _Emily_ merely looked on within honest curiosity in regards to the general conversation, as she naturally did not know who Portia, Fiero, or even who Delancy, herself, was in all honesty, really.

Pausing for a few moments, Hadley was the first to speak, having successfully snapped out of her momentary stupefaction.

". . . . If I hadn't honestly seen and been through everything I had today, I _still_ wouldn't believe it to be at all possible that someone like _Delancy_ could _ever_ be capable of change . . . although she _did_ sound a tad bit like her old, typically _rude_ self in reference to Portia's own . . . 'capabilities,'" she remarked as she blindly reached up to free her shoulder length, brown colored locks from the thistle colored bath towel wrapped around her own head.

She, and then Isla, as well, immediately felt a bit shameful, as the pair gazed upon a now lightly pouting Blair, who had just then turned away from the door to face the rest of her companions.

"Blair? Are you okay?" Emily asked within prompt concern for her cherished sibling, before rushing forward to wrap her tiny arms around her once again, this time much more gently than the first time.

"Yeah, Sis, I am," the blonde responded with a faint smile of reassurance, although it succeeded little within doing anything of the sort.

Isla fleetingly gave a now worrisome appearing Hadley a chastising sort of glance, before moving to Blair's side, herself, and lightly rested a hand upon her robed shoulder.

". . . . Hey, we're _really_ sorry, Blair - That is, about Hadley's previous . . . 'colorful' comment about Delancy and all. We know what she now means to you, and not just as your new Lady Royal," she softly remarked with a vague smile of her own, her naturally higher octave voice sounding even lighter in that moment.

Blair then looked up at the raven haired girl within surprise, before doing the same towards the brunette standing directly before her, and then smiled warmly at them both.

"No . . . I mean, no need to apologize about anything. Hadley was only speaking the _truth_, after all," she said with a shake of her still lightly moist, free flowing and sunlit colored head, before looking down at a still bothered looking Emily, and carefully continued. "And . . . _yeah_, it now turns out that Delancy and I are related . . . but I think that all of this, this great transition, is going to take a great deal of _time_ for her to get used to, just like it's going to for me. . . . _Besides! _There isn't exactly any super _rush_ on anything anymore, really! There's going to be _plenty_ of time for she and I to grow better acquainted as family - Our whole _lives_, in fact!"

Even though she had made sure to take extra care within choosing the right words in that moment, so as not to possibly upset her young adopted family member in any way, as she openly expressed her feelings to her recently discovered _biological_ one, Blair had unknowingly succeeded within doing so, anyhow.

Emily did not wish to have her older sister be emotionally afflicted all over again by becoming privy to this, and so she quickly tucked her head down to better hide away the recently acquired sadness which then began to shine forth upon her small face.

She truly _was_ ecstatic for Blair, both over her having finally learned the whereabouts _and_ fate of _her_ birth family, and also for seeming to have effectively found her place within the proverbial sun. And because she loved her so dearly, Emily really _did_ hope that Blair would one day form perhaps as tight a bond with her biological cousin like the one the two adopted sisters shared.

However, she would be lying if a small part of her did not also feel greatly _afraid_ now, as well, afraid that the once simple, but treasured dynamic which had always existed within their little family wouldn't remain the same, even within such a drastically different, new setting as the Gardanian Palace . . . their new home.

Their new _life_.

Still, no matter _how_ admittedly daunting, yet truly exciting the overall situation currently was or could further become within the future, Emily remained fully confident that it wasn't _ever_ going to completely change Blair, and the person she'd always been.

Blair loved Emily _and_ their mother fiercely, and she was positive that _nothing_ was ever going to change that. . . .

"Now, then! I believe that _someone_ here still owes me a royal dance, if I'm not mistaken," Emily could hear her older sister gaily announce, breaking through her amalgamated thoughts with ease.

Emily immediately gazed back up at Blair with renewed happiness and a giggle, before backing away from her a bit to properly curtsy.

"I would be _delighted_, Your Royal Highness! _Ooh!_ And then afterward, you've all _gotta_ tell me _everything_ that's happened here this semester! The classes, the food, the wild _adventure_ towards the end - _All_ of it!" she gushed within her usual, rapid enthusiasm, before suddenly turning to face a now grinning Hadley. "Ooh, ooh! And then maybe later you could teach me how to bounce a soccer ball on my foot - _And_ head - like I saw you do earlier, Hadley? That's pretty impressive to be able to do it with a _crown_ on your head, and _high heel shoes_ on your feet!"

Hadley, also now feeling much better, grinned a bit proudly at this, before nodding within agreement.

"Yeah, I guess I really _must_ be an official princess, after all, huh? I'm pretty _amazing_, if I do say so, myself! But, all right! You _got_ it, Kid!" she replied with an increasing smirk, tossing her towel onto her 'Princess Canopy' styled bed before turning to retrieve her white and blue colored soccer ball from off of the floor within the corner of the bedroom.

Feeling the extra charge of ongoing exhilaration, Isla quickly moved over to her own bed, also finally removing her own towel wrap from her ebony colored head, before reaching for her violet hued laptop left carefully atop her pillow.

"Well, if we're gonna do this _right_, then what's a party without some epic _tunes? _Allow me to do the honors, once _again_," she giggled with pride, continually feeling unabashed over revealing some of her created musical tracks to her companions at long last.

"Great! Then _shall_ we, '_Princess_ Emily?'" Blair addressed her little sister with as regal a tone as she could muster, curtsying towards the shorter girl before kindly extending a hand out for her to take.

Giggling with seemingly everlasting glee, Emily nodded eagerly before calming herself a bit, as she then tried to match her sibling's majestic air, taking her hand.

"But, of _course_, Princess Blair!" she replied with a stiffened face as she continued to try to keep up the pretense, before the two siblings both could no longer manage within doing so any longer and immediately burst into yet another round of joyous laughter, just as Isla's upbeat, dance music began to waft into the enclosed atmosphere.

For the rest of that evening, indeed straight into the early hours of _morning_ did all four girls dance, play, tell various stories (including that of Blair's recently discovered family history), and laughed, as they continued to simply enjoy each others' company.

And _in_ those moments, at least, none of the three, recent charm school graduates were newly crowned _princesses_, now ready to go off within their separate ways and rule each of their presiding kingdoms.

They were still simply Hadley, Isla, and Blair, three young girls who would forever be bonded by the extraordinary power of friendship. . . .

**- End of Prologue**

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><p><strong>(A.N. Yeah, I know: cheesy ending there. But what do you WANT from me? It's Barbie, damn it. LoL But, no, honestly, THIS particular Babs movie hadn't honestly been all that cheesy, or insufferable, for me, at least, with any talking, andor dancing pets. I may be a kid at heart, but I can't handle that anymore, or indeed ever could, even when I was a legitimate child. LoL**

**I can't personally wait to write more scenes for/with Delancy, because I immediately grew attached/intrigued by that girl, which is probably the main driving force for my creative juices to write this, at all. She's yet another Azkadellia, or Castillo, or Eve for me! Yay! Ooh, ooh! Or Xena...even though we came into that show with Xena having already been reformed, but still. =) **

**ANYWAY, my point is, I tend to usually favor and grow quite attached to "misunderstood" or potentially redeemable characters which, of course, is the whole point, but yeah. WRITING wise, anyway, it's always a great outlet for me when/if I might do a fanfic based upon any of them.**

**It was cute seeing her actually willingly dancing with that "geeky" guy at the end of the movie this time, too. LoL But that was honestly cute to me just mainly because said "geeky" guy looks pretty damned identical to MY geek of a husband. LoL Except that my hubby's glasses are FAR more slender, and his hair is much shorter than that dude's...but otherwise, that'd be Gray-Ham, in a Barbie movie. LoL They even DANCE the same way LoL But of course he'll disagree about that, and that he looks like him once I make him watch the movie later on, just like he avidly denies the eight OTHER fictional characters we've come upon who also look like him...like the "(Insert Topic Here) for Dummies" guy. LoL**

**If I do bother putting that cutey face guy (cuz, you gotta, since "geeks" are awesome and hot to me hehe) in this story some time later, I shall name him "Graham," in honor of my hubby-bubby. =) **

**Anyhow! How hilarious was Portia's character, seriously? Not hardly an original, being of the "slow-minded" nature like soooo so many other fictional characters out there, but she still continually had me out any time she opened her mouth...or didn't, and just had that glazed over expression upon her face. LoL I honestly thought that she really WOULDN'T graduate with everyone else BECAUSE of her slow wit, but hey. Miracles evidently do happen, I mean, what with Blair having also turned out to be a princess in the end, and all. LoL**

**Just thought I'd fleetingly create some family members for her – Portia, that is – and make mention of a younger brother, and also name HIM after a car, as well, like his sister...the correct pronunciation in her case, anyway. =)**

**Anywho! Prologue down, with chapter one already outlined and ready to be written! Now...how long will it take before it's actually posted? ...Not sure. LoL But hopefully soon! =) At any rate, thanks for reading and nice to meet you, new people who may have journeyed to my story! And hiya again, my regular lovelies! I know it wasn't a W.I.T.C.H. related tale this time for yooze particular guys, but I trust you still managed to enjoy it a bit...well, provided you actually saw the movie. LoL If you haven't, it isn't a super big deal, since I'll probably continue making various references to it and all – Although not as in depth as I normally do for any of my other stories, this time. =)**

**EITHER way, thankies to you, as well! =) )**


	2. Chapter One: Settling In and Revelations

**The True Measure of Character and Confidence**

**By: Sokai**

**Disclaimer: **I, Sokai, do not claim ownership to the workings of Rainmaker Entertainment, in relation to their "Barbie" movie series (or, indeed, anything else of their creation), specifically (in this particular case), "Barbie: Princess Charm School." However, I can and DO claim to own this story and its inspired ideas FROM said movie.

Note: _Holy crap, my older sister had pointed out something to me quite valid about Delancy the other day, after she had watched the movie for herself: Delancy looks like Shakira. SO damned true, it's ridiculous! I KNEW she looked like SOMEONE to me, and it kept eating away at me as I watched the movie the first time around, especially once she let her hair down at the end._

_No wonder I believe her to be the most attractive and adorable looking of the young girls featured within this movie, next to Isla. =) Someone ought to let Miss Shakira know about this movie and have her watch it in order to cast her own judgment about her lookalike. LoL_

_Anyhow, fairly slow, but slightly growing interest within this overall tale of mine, but that's all right. Like I said before, I believe, I'm mainly doing it for my own personal intrigue, as this movie has 'sequel potential' written all over it. Who knows? Maybe if it grows within popularity, the peeps at Rainmaker may approach me to buy the rights to THIS (sequel, that is). =)_

_'Till then, feel free to enjoy this rather long (although no surprise, since it's me), twenty-eight pager, those bothering to read it._

_Oh, right. And just like Blair's mom, Dame Devin, and Portia's made up family and given first names, I'd also done the same to a briefly mentioned 'Pawdicurist Sprite,' seeing as that seemed to be the only sort of 'name' she'd been given within the movie . . . or credits, anyway, and I'd also done the same to Portia's parents (who also possess car names, yes), as I'd gone into a further detail about the girl and her personal life._

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><p>This chapter was createdwritten in September 2011.

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><p><strong>Chapter One: Settling In, and Revelations<strong>

When Blair had awakened the following morning, she had honestly believed that she had somehow lost her hearing, perhaps due to all of the ongoing, boisterous theatrics and loud music, courtesy of Isla, which she had continued to play throughout most of the previous evening.

For when she sleepily cracked one eye open, and consciousness slowly returned to her, she was met with an eerie silence all about the entire dorm room, and indeed, the rest of the dormitory _hall_.

It wasn't until she could then begin to hear the faint, although still noticeable breathing of her younger sibling, Emily, did Blair finally realize that her hearing was quite fine as always, as well as the precise reason as to why it was so resoundingly quiet.

". . . . Everyone's gone," she murmured softly to herself with slight melancholy, lightly rubbing at her blue eyes, before slowly sitting up within her large bed so as not to disturb the continually slumbering girl at her side.

She let out a faint sigh upon surveying the dorm room, and saw that both Hadley and Isla's beds were empty, already made up, with each of their unique possessions taken down from off of the walls, as well. A slight stinging of her heart occurred in that moment, as Blair realized that neither one of her friends had bothered to wait around a little while longer in order to say goodbye.

". . . . Guess we're on our own, now," she whispered within slight sadness, turning her attention back onto a contently slumbering Emily, and gently stroked the top of her brown colored head, which was now free from the familiar pigtailed hairstyle she'd normally fashion her neck length hair into.

Just then, a soft knock could be heard against the sealed, pink colored door to Blair's dorm room, which admittedly caused her heart to jump within surprise, before settling into a feeling of joyful hope that it perhaps could have been one, or more preferably, the both of her already sorely missed comrades returning to retrieve something of theirs.

Or, perhaps, even to remain at the charm school and Gardanian Palace with her . . . she hoped, admittedly a bit foolishly, anyhow.

Gingerly climbing out of her shared bed with her sister, who just then sleepily rolled away from her and onto her other side to evidently continue on within her slumber, Blair smiled warmly toward her a moment before quietly rushing to the door to open it.

"I was _hoping_ you two would come ba -" she began within a hushed, although excited voice as she eagerly opened the dormitory room door and expecting to see her cheerful companions waiting on the other side, before promptly cutting herself off once her crisp blue eyes met with no one of the sort.

No one, that is, except for _Delancy_, and even a returned _Grace_, the both of them looking rather sheepish and apologetic, perhaps for having possibly awakened the other girl.

"_Gooood_ morning, Blair! _D-Doh_, I mean, _Princess!_" Grace, the first one to speak, greeted cheerfully, before swiftly amending herself, her tiny face immediately flooding with undeniable abashment.

Blair softly chuckled at this, before also briefly waving one of her hands into the air within a downwards motion, signifying to the young, pink haired Sprite to lower her voice.

"O-Oops! Sorry about that, Your Royal Highness!" Grace apologetically began within the same voice level, before finishing her sentence within a soft whisper.

"Not to worry, Grace; my sister, Emily can generally sleep through pretty much anything, even, perhaps, an _earthquake_. Buttt, just to be on the _safe_ side," Blair replied gently with a grin, before carefully stepping out of the dorm room and into the otherwise empty hall, closing the door behind her. "_There!_ Now there's really no need for any furthered concern!"

"Understood, Your Royal Highness, and good morning to you," Delancy remarked with a kind smile and familiar curtsy, causing Blair to softly blush at the continued parade of courtesy the two females before her were bestowing.

"O-Oh, good morning to you, _too_, Delancy! And please, both of you, you really _don't_ need to keep on with the whole 'Your Royal Highness' and 'Princess' formalities - And _especially_ not the curtsying! I'm still the same old me . . . I just happen to now be ruler of an entire country, that's all," the sunlit blonde joked with a crooked smile, reaching out to gently rest a hand onto Delancy's shoulder as the other girl straightened her posture once more. "And besides, if anyone looks more like _Royalty_ right now, it'd definitely be _you!_"

It was true.

While Blair presently looked as she always would every morning (either back within her old bedroom at her family's equally antiquated apartment, or there at the charm school), comfortably adorned within a pink and gold trimmed, short sleeved 'Tee-Jama,' with matching boxers and socks, Delancy, on the other hand, looked like a glorified _vision_ . . . like she always did, in all honesty, to _Blair_, at least.

A form-fitting, orchid colored and ruffle-front dress shirt complimented her torso and bare neck, while a plum tinted pencil skirt attired her bottom and sheltered the tucked in remainder of her top. A considerably modest, although still quite flattering pair of violet pointed toe stilettos adorned Delancy's petite sized and flesh hued, pantyhose covered feet . . . and her hair, so quite commonly within the curly topped, elegant updo, was once again styled within the free flowing, lightly wavy hairdo as the previous night.

As she silently marveled at the other girl's overall appearance, Blair also fleetingly began to wonder if the sudden, preferred change within hairstyle did not perhaps have less to do with the recent coronation ball, and more so to do with the fact that Delancy's former 'do' had also been that of her _mother's_.

_The reminder would probably be too much for her to handle right now_, the blonde thought within sympathetic understanding, reaching up to lightly scratch at her greatly disheveled, long locks, a fact which only further aided within her ongoing embarrassment.

". . . . Thank you . . . _Blair_," Delancy spoke with a soft smile, her own, softly toasted skin earning a light rouge to them by her princess's compliment, as she just managed to stop herself from referring to her by any of her royal titles, or even her birth name. "And as for the 'formalities,' as you put it, it's simply a force of habit, I guess, as I grew up learning them, after all . . . but, I suppose I can forgo them whenever it's just the two of us - Or _three_ of us, as the case may be, counting Grace. _A-Anyhow!_ Did you sleep well, at least? Hadley and Isla told us that you guys didn't actually get to sleep until around two o'clock, this morning. . . ."

Blair grinned shamefacedly at this, beginning to stretch, as though on cue, and at the same time promptly raising a hand to her mouth to shield it away from her two friends as she let out a light yawn.

"_Mmmm_ . . . sorry. I guess I'm still feeling a little bit tired," she remarked with a nod, before raising a golden eyebrow within intrigue at the mention of her two missing best friends. "Did you say that you got to talk to Isla and Hadley . . . before they had to leave the charm school with everyone else?"

Seeing the other blonde's mixed feelings over the news, it was Delancy's turn to place a hand upon her shoulder, although awkwardly so, as she blindly reached into one of the pockets within her skirt and smiled.

"Yes, we did, and as a final act as your 'Princess Personal Assistant,' Grace, here, had been asked to deliver this letter of goodbye to you from the girls," she revealed, just as she finished carefully pulling out the vanilla colored and neatly folded piece of parchment in question, and kindly handed it over to a now beaming Blair. "Seeing as it might have been a bit much for her to carry all the way back up here to the dorm rooms, though, I thought that I'd give her a hand."

"Well, it would've been _a lot_ less heavy than the _care package_ Blair's sister had sent to her a while back, and I had to _lug_ up here all by myself . . . b-but it was no biggie, of course!" Grace gushed with a crooked smile and wave of her miniscule sized hands, as she continued to effortlessly flutter high within the air at Delancy's side.

Blair didn't want to be rude by immediately opening up Hadley and Isla's presumably joint letter and read it right in front of her two remaining companions; however, she'd found the temptation to be far too great.

And so, with a quick "Thank you" within response to both girls' efforts, she quickly opened the small letter and began to read, _aloud_, as though within slight compromise with herself over her current actions.

"'Dear Blair, or should we say '_Princess Sophia_' from now on? If there's one thing for certain which we _all_ can be sure of, though, it's that this past semester has been _the_ most adventurous undertaking of our entire lives. At least, definitely for me and Hadley, hands down,'" Blair began with a growing smile, gazing down upon Isla's neat and slightly slanted penmanship, as she continued to recite her handwritten letter aloud, "'and we can both honestly tell you that neither of us will ever forget even a _moment's_ worth of it. Best of all? We now have our _own_ sort of 'legend' to tell about the history of Gardania, too! Just think, _years_ from now, each of our future descendants will regale everyone around, all about how the princesses of Lyricia and Sportania helped return the long lost princess of Gardania to her _rightful_ throne. . . . _Until_ then, though, it's off to each of our _own_ kingdoms, where Hadley will most likely continue to wreak havoc upon all of the fancy dishes and silverware lurking within her palace walls, thanks to now being able to kick that soccer ball of hers around, no matter the attire or situation . . . and as for _me_, I'm thinking about maybe installing a new 'Nightly Ball' regime over at _mine_, just so I can never be without a steady surplus of audiences to test all of my latest tunes on! Because, honestly, _how_ fun _was_ our graduation? Anyway, whatever _you_ intend to enforce now, yourself, as ruler over the _lucky_ citizens of Gardania, Blair, Hadley and I both know you'll do _wonderfully_ . . . especially with equally wonderful people like _Delancy_ and the rest of your family by your side as you do. . . . Hope to see you again real soon! All our love, Isla and Hadley. . . .'"

"Awwww. . . ." Grace cooed with a light clasping of her miniature sized hands before slowly raising them to one side of her face, as both Blair, as well as Delancy immediately began to blush over the now absent princesses' sentiments regarding them both.

"Y-Yeah, really," Blair managed to murmur within concurrence as Delancy merely nodded, watching the cornflower haired girl gently refold the letter and held it tenderly in between her palms. "Now, I'm _really_ gonna miss them. . . . I just wish that one of them could have woken me up so that I could seen them - Seen _everyone_ off. . . ."

Delancy smiled gently within understanding, moving to her newly discovered relative's side, just as Grace followed suit on the other.

"Well, they'd said that they didn't want to wake you, especially in case it would have awakened your sister in the process, as well," she revealed with another nod, slowly raising a hand into the air as she lightly shrugged. "And besides, trying to wake up at six o'clock in order to be ready to leave the school by seven, after _only_ having had four hours or so of sleep the previous evening would be hard on _anyone_. Frankly, I'm surprised that both Isla and Hadley had managed to get up on t -"

"- W-Wait a sec, Delancy! You said the girls all left at seven o'clock, right? Well, what time is it _now_, anyway?" Blair interjected quickly, wrinkling her nose within distress, as she had a strong feeling she wasn't going to like the answer, especially not at having seen the dishwater blonde next to her already completely dressed for the current day and so wide-eyed, as though having been awake for hours on end by that time.

Seeming to have read her mind, Delancy nervously chuckled before stating, ". . . . Almost noon . . . o-okay, so more like almost half past eleven, really. . . . But I _have_ been up since five, this morning, honestly, just getting a few things done for the new day ahead of time."

"Well that makes me feel a whole lot _worse!_" Blair groaned with a grimace, startled to learn that she had been allowed to sleep for so long. This was the latest she had ever woken up, not only since having first arrived to the charm school, but indeed many years in general, having always been more so of an early bird, but also most recently due to her busy working schedule at the _Café Gardania_.

Delancy grinned sheepishly at her princess and softly shrugged once more before tilting her head a bit, causing a few strands of her caramel blonde hair to delicately cascade over her right shoulder in the process.

"Well, like I said, it sometimes isn't easy to just get up on a dime like that, so don't worry about it," she began with a growing smile, straightening her posture once again, "and I went ahead and made sure to send your regards to the rest of the ladies before they each departed, as well. Some of them had even left their _own_ contact information, as well, just in case you'd wish to keep in touch with any of them, alongside Isla and Hadley. I've already placed them within the digital address book I'd taken the liberty of setting up for you within your new bedchambers back at the palace, if that's okay."

Blair blinked within surprise at this, before smiling crookedly within mixed embarrassment and guilt.

"O-Oh, well, thank you, as _always_, Delancy, but you didn't have to go through all that trouble on my behalf," she said a bit awkwardly, the newfound situation and roles Life had thrust both girls into still not yet sinking in for her quite fully. "I'm just so used to doing everything for myself, or, primarily for _others_, like Emily and my mom, you know?"

". . . . And _I've_ been so accustomed to pretty much everything being done _for_ me, truthfully," Delancy admitted softly, although her rich brown eyes reflected no malice about it. She then smiled shyly as she added, "It . . . feels pretty good, though, doing things on my own for a change, and on behalf of _others_."

"And boy, _has_ she been doing a lot of things 'on behalf of others,' Blair, and just within the last few hours, alone!" Grace suddenly piped up with glee, swiftly gliding closer to the two girls in order to place herself in between them both. "Delancy's already managed to do _so_ much more in one _day_ than all of us Sprites could possibly do in a _week_, it seems like, the way I've watched her go back and forth all over the palace, _and_ here at the school, taking care of various things! _Trust_ me when I tell you that you've definitely picked yourself an _awesome_ Lady Royal! She even already _looks_ the part now, too, with those _gorgeous_ clothes of hers!"

Now feeling tremendously abashed, perhaps even more so than Blair, herself, Delancy quickly moved away from both remaining females and timidly looked away, down at the floor and towards her stylish pumps.

"I-It wasn't anything _major_, Grace, Blair!" she stated within rushed awkwardness, before gazing back up at her cousin and continued. "I was _already_ awake, so I just figured why _not_ get a few things done, although most had already been taken care of. That is, for _me_ and today, at least, what it originally was _going_ to be, anyway . . . so I just had some things moved around and postponed a bit, in order to give you more time to get adjusted. And anyway, I can't take _all_ of the credit: Grace, and even _Wickellia_ had helped me out a bit, too, even though all of the other Sprites have already gone back to their homes within the meadow nearby, now that the semester has concluded . . . _and_ even though I was never honestly all that kind to her. Wickellia, I mean . . . or even _you_, either, Grace, whenever our paths would cross. I'm really sorry about that. . . ."

Grace immediately flew over to the clearly ashamed Lady Royal standing before her, a renewed flurry of magenta and white colored enchanted sparkles trailing behind her as she did so.

"Aww, hey, come on, now, Delancy. _Chin_ up! '_Poise_,' remember?" the pink haired Sprite reminded with a sympathetic smile, before it widened into a grin as she then gently patted the side of Delancy's left cheek. "_There!_ And anyway, you've _already_ apologized to me, _and_ to Wickellia only about a _billion_ times all morning! The semester's over, now, so if neither of us no longer cared to help you help _Blair_ out – Especially since, you know, that's kinda more so solely _your_ job now, after all – then we could have easily have headed on home with the rest of the Sprites!"

Delancy, who now felt truly touched by Grace's kind words (and, unbeknownst to them both, as did a continually silent Blair), blushed lightly with a returned smile upon her smooth visage.

"Thanks, Grace," she spoke, her voice barely above a whisper, as Blair then moved closer to her to rest a hand upon her shoulder once more.

"This is a big change for _all_ of us, Delancy. But I think that, so long as we just remember what we've been taught this past semester and stick together, we should be all right," the sunlit haired girl said reassuringly with a smile of her own, as she watched both of her friends give a simple nod of apparent agreement. "Now . . . _speaking_ of Wickellia, where is she?"

"Back over at the 'Luxury Spa' starting to set things up for both you and Emily, seeing as the 'Pawdicurist Sprite,' Belle, had also already gone," Grace explained with a light raise of her shoulders and hands as she turned to face her former mistress of sorts. "She was going to stick around a little while longer earlier this morning before leaving, but since you and your sister never got around to waking up until much, _much_ later, we just let her go and - D-Doh! _Sorry_ about that. . . ."

Blair shook her messy 'bedhead,' giggling lightly at her quite diminutive friend.

"That's okay, Grace. It's _my_ fault for having woken up so late, after all," she said with an apologetic smile, before turning towards her dorm room door to reopen it. "_Anyway_, guess we'd better wake up Emily, and get the day started! Wouldn't want to keep our mom waiting on us for any -"

"- Blair! _There_ you are! Good . . . morning!" Emily abruptly interrupted her older, adopted sister with a light yawn in between, the moment the door opened and the two caught sight of one another. She felt her cheeks grow hot as soon as the trio of females now standing before her lightly began to chuckle curiously toward her. ". . . . W-What?"

Following their gaze, Emily looked down, towards her appearance from where she stood at the foot of Blair's now disheveled bed, and realized that the pink plaid nightshirt her sibling had given to her to sleep within during the previous night was now presently drooping a bit off to one side of her petite sized body.

"I guess my pajamas really _were_ a bit too big for you to wear, after all," Blair said in between tittering, moving further into the dorm room to help straighten the oversized nightwear upon Emily's small frame, before giving her a warm hug within greeting, and carefully setting down Isla and Hadley's letter to her onto her nearby nightstand. "But that's all right! It _was_ only for one night! Later on today, we'll just head back to our old home to gather yours and Mom's things to move into the palace."

"Oooh, I _still_ can't believe that! _Me_, now living within the Gardanian Palace!" Emily squealed within delight as she returned her sister's embrace.

Blair nodded with a smirk, before gently ruffling the top of the other girl's brunette colored head, messing it up a bit more as a result.

"Yes, but first things first! _Bath time_, then _breakfast!_ Or nearly _lunch_, at this point," she stated as she pulled away, turning around to slowly lead her younger sibling out of the dormitory room. "You remember meeting Grace last night, right? She'll take you to the 'Luxury Spa,' so don't _dawdle_, all right? Mom must probably be wondering where we are, by now, I'm sure."

Emily abruptly stopped within her tracks a moment right then, as she curiously gazed up at the older girl.

"Well, aren't _you_ coming with us?" she asked naturally, before resuming her walk and exited the dorm room and into the otherwise empty hall.

Blair nodded slowly, before oddly fixing her gaze upon a politely silent Delancy, who blinked within surprise as a result.

"Yeah, I'll be along in a little bit, Sis. I just . . . have a few things to discuss with my new Lady Royal, that's all," she revealed with a soft smile, before giving one last hug to Emily, who then merely gave a shrug within satisfaction.

"Okay, then. Well, come on, Grace! _Now's_ my chance to get _another_ early preview of my hopeful future here at the charm school!" she stated with a broad, excited grin towards the continually fluttering, pink themed Sprite now beside her, before abruptly taking off down the secluded hallway with a giggling Grace in tow.

"I have a feeling that she's going to adjust just fine here," Blair commented within amusement, as both she and Delancy watched after Emily charging down the hall and further away from them. She then returned her attention onto her premiere cousin, who now appeared to be a bit tense. "Now that we're alone, you and I can talk. . . ."

". . . . What about?" Delancy asked a bit hesitantly, beginning to wonder after whatever it was she could have possibly already screwed up upon as Blair's newfound advisor.

Seeming to be upon the same train of thought as the other blonde, Blair promptly shook her head and beamed generously back at her, and reached out to place a hand upon her sheltered forearm.

"Oh! N-No, it isn't anything related to my new job as a princess, or _your_ new job as a lady royal or anything like that!" she reassured, before extending her free hand out towards the still open doorway to her dorm room. "I just . . . well, thought that maybe we could talk for a little bit before breakfast, that's all. You know . . . like, in the 'Getting to Know You' sort of way. . . ."

Delancy, whom Blair expected to enter her soon-to-be former bedroom after today in that moment, merely remained where she was, rooted firmly within her spot at her side. This, coupled by the other girl's now steadily widening brown eyes only served within making Blair feel as though naked, and utterly foolish for having made such an admitted request.

"O-Oh . . . or, maybe _not_, then. I mean, we don't ha -" she began within sheepish amendment, before Delancy, seeming to have at last snapped out of her previous reverie, swiftly cut her off.

"- _No! _I mean, _no_, you don't have to worry or apologize for anything, Blair," she said with a shake of her head, before suddenly taking on the appearance of a small, timid child, as she awkwardly bit the corner of her ruby tinted lips and gently tucked a few strands of her caramel blonde hair behind her left ear. "That is to say . . . that that'd be nice, thank you. . . . I mean, I suppose there's no better time than the _present_, right? Especially given our newfound circumstances, and all. . . ."

As Blair watched within relief as her former nemesis of sorts then made her way, a bit slowly, into her dorm room, she began to marvel at the drastic shift within personality Delancy seemed to have undergone, all in less than two days.

_She's always given off this strong air of seemingly never-ending confidence this whole time, and __never__ seemed second guessing about __anything__. Now . . . it's sort of like we've traded places, not only within formerly intended positions in life, but within personality, as well, as she seems to be __losing__ some of that confidence, just when __I've__ finally begun to acquire __more__ for myself_, the blonde mused with a slowly raised eyebrow at the mental reflection, before re-entering her room after Delancy. _But, then . . . I don't suppose I could blame her, really. After all, it isn't every day you learn that one of your parents is . . . a murderer. . . ._

"Please . . . have a seat anywhere, if you can excuse the slight _mess_, anyway," Blair said with an apologetic smile after closing the bedroom door, before rushing forward to pick up a few of the leisure magazines she, her sister, and her two former roommates had been reading the other night from off of the lilac colored floor.

She then moved towards her still unmade bed, and attempted to fix it with her remaining free hand, while Delancy silently watched her a moment before speaking again.

"_Really_, Blair . . . you don't need to go through all this trouble for me like this. By comparison, _your_ dorm room is spic n span to what _Portia's_ looked like by the time I'd left her last night. In fact, I'm sure _everyone's_ dorm rooms looked the same as hers, now that classes were over and the after parties continued," she remarked with a small smile, before moving toward her slightly blushing cousin to gingerly retrieve the small stack of magazines from out of her hand, and replaced them onto the small desk at the foot of the girl's bed.

"Thanks for that," Blair said within appreciation and a smile of her own, before continuing to make up her bed, a lot faster now, now that her other hand was free.

She paused a moment, however, as she struggled to think of what to say next . . . although, it wasn't honestly that she hadn't the foggiest what to talk about. There was a lot presently on her mind which she'd wished to discuss with the other girl, indeed, since last night.

However, it was merely the execution which currently eluded her, as Blair wasn't entirely sure how to begin that specific topic of conversation without possibly offending, _or_ emotionally harming Delancy in any sort of way.

And so, for the moment, at least, she decided to forgo any attempts, and instead decided to start off small.

". . . . Sooo . . . did you have fun hanging out with Portia one last time, then?" Blair asked as casually as she could manage, gazing upon her cousin fleetingly before resuming her previous efforts to finish making up her bed.

Delancy smiled reflectively at this and nodded, before moving over to the other side of Blair's mattress and began to help her along.

"Yeah, I did, actually, thanks. We ended up eating a lot of 'Floor Cakes,' as she now calls _any_ cupcake that she sees, and watched a bunch of movies . . . that is, we _did_, anyway, until her roommates, Josette and Lorraine came bursting in, wanting to regale us with a steady stream of _new_ cheers they'd both come up with, in honor of all of us having successfully graduated," she revealed with a soft smirk and roll of her eyes, gingerly tugging at Blair's pink hued bedsheets within the upper right hand corner of the bed before smoothing it out. "So after spending a fair amount of time cleaning up the various pieces of the girl's pompom strands, which had come loose due to all of their vigorous cheering, Portia and I decided to move our little celebration back over to the palace, where I invited her to spend the night . . . which I think was something she really enjoyed."

"Oh? Hasn't she ever slept over there before? I mean, seeing as you two seem pretty close and everything," Blair wondered aloud upon completion of fixing her bed, moving around it to sit upon the lavender and gold trimmed vanity chair placed by the foot of it.

Delancy briefly tensed up a moment upon hearing the other girl's honest inquiry, before slowly turning around to face her.

". . . . Well, yes. I mean, I suppose we _are_ pretty close friends . . . even if I haven't always acted like a very good one to her . . . at least, not _publicly_, mostly, anyway," she began within reply, listlessly beginning to move toward the identical chair set straight across the large room from Blair's own to take a seat. "I mean, my . . . mother always used to stress upon me how appearance was everything while growing up, and as the future princess of Gardania, I would naturally be set to higher standards than others, _even_ other princesses. So she never really liked it whenever I used to try to have anyone over at the palace, especially not to sleep over, like I'd wanted a lot for Portia when we were kids. . . . She said that such activities would only serve as a distraction for what she felt was _more_ important, like all of my continued studies within proper etiquette and such, something my mom had started me on _many_ years before I was finally old enough to officially enroll at this school. . . ."

_So no __wonder__ why she was just so . . . __perfect__ at everything_, Blair reflected within silence, giving a tiny nod within mild understanding, before hesitantly commenting, "So . . . I imagine that growing up at the palace might not have been as . . . '_magical_,' I guess, as _Emily's_ hoping it will be, then. . . ."

At this, Delancy looked up at her within curiosity, before faintly smiling, her lightly toasted complexion relaxing into a far off sort of expression, as though re-imagining an old memory.

"Well, no . . . I wouldn't say that, exactly, and _certainly_ not to your sister, who seems to be really looking forward to living there from now on," she said with a light nod, before turning her caramel blonde head and gazed out the large, floor length windows within the room. "True, it _did_ sometimes get a little lonely, living there pretty much all by myself as a kid - I mean, with my mother, of course, too, as well as Headmistress Privet, who stays there during the times the charm school is closed after every semester, by the way. . . . _Anyway_, it wasn't so bad, though, since Portia and I would always manage to find ways around my mother's rules to hang out together whenever she'd come to visit, like either around here on the school grounds, or somewhere within the palace gardens and stuff. We figured that she kept telling us that she didn't want anyone being within the palace, itself, a whole lot, so those _other_ places wouldn't really count . . . even if it _was_ still technically a part of the palace, naturally."

Blair smiled slowly as she listened to her cousin surprisingly open up to her more, _far_ more than she had initially expected, or even dared to hope for.

"Sounds like you two really _did_ have a blast, then," she remarked with a grin, leaning forward to blindly scratch away an itch upon her right shin. "Did you ever do anything special together, like hold tea parties or something, with any _other_ princesses you both knew at the time?"

Delancy shook her head at this, turning her attention back onto the cornflower haired girl seated across from her.

"No, not really. We figured that there was _enough_ of that sort of stuff going on through our _parents_' behalf, after all. No, we mainly did a lot of the things we really _couldn't_ or didn't have enough time for, otherwise - You know, more _leisurely_ pursuits, like swimming, and . . . and horseback riding," she explained with another smile before it then began to fade, as she gave a slight pause to the final activity she'd then revealed to the other girl.

Blair raised an eyebrow at this, as she silently debated whether or not she should pursue the personal observation and ask whatever was the matter. She didn't need to worry, however, as Delancy then freely volunteered the furthered information, herself.

"I'm . . . sure you, and everybody else, really, already noticed that Portia sometimes isn't exactly . . . 'on' all the time, so to speak, and for lack of a better phrase," she started with a soft sigh, locking her warm brown eyes with Blair's periwinkle. "Well . . . there's a reason for that. At least . . . one part of two. You see, Portia's ultimate passion used to be Equestrianism. Ever since the first day I'd met her, back when we were both six-years-old, all she'd ever really talk about was horses, horses, _horses_, and how she couldn't wait until she was old enough to begin learning how to ride one. _Finally_, when we turned _eight_, that's when her mom and dad, Queen Ciera and King Cirrus at last gave the 'O.K.' for her to begin the proper lessons . . . and she was a _natural_, too, as far as _I_ was concerned, anyway. Definitely better than _I_ was, although I never really _did_ take a right shine to it, finding being pulled along within a _carriage_ to be more along my tastes . . . that, and my mother, _naturally_, disapproved of it. . . . _A-Anyway_, one of the last, real times Portia had come over to the palace, at least when we were still kids, was when we were eleven. We, the kingdom, that is, had just bought a few new horses to add to our royal stable, and, of course, Portia couldn't resist wanting to ride one of them, as she often would for many of our others during her past visits. But . . . the one she had chosen, 'Shutter,' was still a tiny bit on the easily spooked side – At the time, at least - and wasn't honestly quite ready for any sort of intense interaction. . . ."

". . . . So . . . So what happened?" Blair asked, voice barely above a whisper as she felt herself becoming literally on the edge of her seat within nervous anticipation.

Delancy could no longer hold her gaze with her cousin then, and chose to instead look down at her own smooth hands which rested neatly within her lap, as her face gradually contorted into one of profound shame.

". . . . I'd said that _Portia_ had chosen the horse, but . . . really, _I_ had," she said with a hard swallow, before slowly licking at her increasingly dry lips. "I don't . . . don't really know _why_ I did it . . . but I guess it was because I was admittedly a little bit _jealous_ of her skill. I mean, in only a few years' time, she was already this . . . _superstar_ Equestrian, practically, while _I_ was merely so-so by comparison, even _if_ I didn't honestly care for the sport, anyhow. But, I was so used to usually being the better one between us in pretty much _everything_, and then also couple that with my _mother_ constantly reminding me that I was and always _had_ to be, above _everyone_ . . . and I guess I just sort of . . . _lost_ it."

". . . . So you let Portia try to ride Shutter, even though you knew that there might be complications," Blair quietly finished for Delancy, who slowly nodded without daring to look back up at her.

"In truth . . . I didn't honestly think that there _would_ be, at least, not with _her_ riding him, having been so great and all," she stated with a drawn out, shaky exhale, lightly ringing her hands together. "In fact, I was fairly _confident_ that she'd succeed just fine, _because_ of that 'greatness . . .' but a part of me still . . . sort of _hoped_ that she wouldn't, just so I could for _once_ see some humility about her, where her horseback riding skills were concerned. . . ."

"How . . . How long did she last, then?" Blair asked faintly, her heart pounding rapidly behind her breastplate as she both feared, yet desired to know the answer.

Delancy shook her head lethargically, before tightly sealing her eyes shut, as though within attempts to further seal away the overall memory.

". . . . Not long at all," she whispered weakly, licking at her lips once more. "She _did_ manage to get the saddle and reins on him just fine, without him making a fuss . . . and _even_ managed to mount and lead him out of the stables okay, too, which, I'm even _more_ ashamed to say, only made me feel that much more envious of her talents. . . . But I didn't have to feel pretty jealous for long, though, seeing as . . . as Shutter _immediately_ began to buck furiously, causing me to instantly regret my deception. I rushed off to get one of the nearby palace attendants to help, but . . . I was too late. When I turned back around, Portia was already lying on the ground, unconscious. . . ."

"Oh, my God," Blair breathed with widened eyes, covering her mouth within furthered affect.

"Y-Yes . . . 'oh, my God,'" Delancy responded within mimicry, before finally looking at her stunned cousin with saddened eyes. "_Thank_ God, though, for her helmet, and that Shutter had run off promptly after dropping her, otherwise she might've. . . . _A-Anyway_, unfortunately, even _with_ the helmet's added protection, the blow Portia had evidently received to her head that day had been pretty severe . . . _so_ severe, in fact, that she'd spent nearly three days within a coma. . . ."

Blair curiously nodded slowly at this, as her own eyes suddenly seemed to flicker within recognition.

"Yeah . . . I think I can remember my mom reading something about that from out of the 'Gardanian Times,' _around_ that time I suppose, after she'd caught me looking at the headline, about how 'The Viscountess Devin's Childhood Friend Suffers a Serious Injury at the Palace. . . .' I can recall how that was a pretty big scandal of sorts at the time," she stated lightly, hoping that the admittance would be received by the other girl as delicately as she had tried to relay it.

Delancy merely continued to gaze back at her with the same amount of sorrow, although her brown eyes shown with comprehension, perhaps both at the shared memory, as well as Blair's sensitive intent.

". . . . Yeah. So you can _now_ understand why it would be a fairly long while before Portia's parents allowed her to come back and visit, _or_ even for me to go over to _her_ palace back within Narcissia . . . although, if my mom had had _her_ way about that completely, I probably would have _never_ seen her again, seeing how absolutely _livid_ she had become after the accident, doing her best to deflect the temporarily bad 'P.R.' our family had experienced for a bit after that," she said with another sigh, this one just as elongated as the last. "In the end, Portia was revealed to now be suffering from 'Retrograde Amnesia,' which thankfully wasn't and isn't _severely_ extensive, although she does still have it to this day. . . ."

"'Retrograde Amnesia?' So, then . . . she can't recall anything from the _past_, or _present_, I'm sorry?" Blair asked hesitantly, clasping her now clammy hands together.

". . . . Past," she replied, a bit wearily, as though continuing to recount the memory was draining every last ounce of her energy. "It had taken her a little while at first to immediately recall each of her loved ones, which was certainly heartbreaking for her family, of course . . . _and_ for me. But, over time she seemed to _greatly_ improve, although certain things we used to do or experienced together she couldn't, and _still_ can't recall. . . . She even ended up having to be re-educated within a fairly good chunk of her etiquette and general tutorial lessons, as well. I can't honestly tell you, though, if Portia recalls her horseback riding lessons and skills, as well, or can execute them just as well as before, rather, seeing as her parents promptly barred her from _ever_ riding a horse again . . . and she hasn't ever honestly expressed wishing to, at least not in front of _me_, anyway. . . . You can't imagine how incredibly guilt ridden that's made me feel throughout the years, to have taken away _so_ much from her like that, and all because I was _stupidly_ covetous. . . . And I haven't even told her this, either, _any_ of this . . . _no one_, actually, until _now_. . . ."

Blair felt her heart beginning to break tremendously for her newfound relative, wishing that she could somehow go back in time to avert the overall tragedy from ever occurring in the first place. She slowly rose from her seat and began to gingerly drag it closer to an obviously pained Delancy, and placed it directly in front of her, so that their knees were now touching.

"Oh, Delancy . . . I'm _so_ sorry," she gushed with palpable affect, hesitating a moment before reaching out to gently seize one of the other girl's hands to cradle within her own. "I really _can't_ imagine the weight of such guilt, especially having kept it inside for so many years like that. . . . But, at least Portia's all right _now_, though, or at least seems to be doing much better than how she presumably began with her condition."

Delancy began to experience a mixture of ongoing shame, yet a strange sort of inner peace over perhaps finally confessing her sin, as well as receiving a mild semblance of forgiveness for it, even if it wasn't from the one person she truly desired it to stem.

That momentary feeling of tranquility was instantly extinguished thereafter, however, the moment she also reflected upon the further impact her actions have had upon her childhood companion.

"Maybe . . . except that . . . well, remember how I said that there was more than one reason why Portia is the way she is to those who don't really know her history, like I do?" Delancy asked slowly, her voice quivering and heart aching as she forced herself to maintain eye contact with her new princess seated directly before her.

Blair nodded only once as her response, although she did begin to slowly increase the pressure through which she continued to possess the other girl's hand.

"Well . . . that's because learning things has always been a bit . . . I wouldn't say '_challenging_,' but has always simply required a bit more time for Portia," she began within furthered explanation, sighing once again, for the third time. "I don't believe it was ever a _clinical_ sort of condition, though. It just sometimes takes her a while longer than others to fully comprehend some things, that's all, like _mathematics_, to give you an example. . . . And then, couple that with the daydreaming-like personality she's always possessed since we were kids, always liking to think outside the box and do things within her own, unique way, and . . . now, too, with her _amnesia_, and I don't suppose I can find it all too difficult for many people to earn the initial misconception that she's _unintelligent_, or something. . . ."

Blair said nothing to this, as she allowed herself to fully process the added information Delancy provided her about the tangerine haired princess. She felt her cheeks immediately grow hot with her own sort of disgrace, as she silently admitted to herself that _she_ happened to be one of those individuals who would have thought along the same sort of lines about the girl.

_After all . . . she __did__ always seem so . . . __scatty__ whenever I was around her_, Blair mused with mounting guilt over her unnecessary, although perhaps slightly understanding presumptions. _And she __did__ think that she had __twelve__ toes, instead of __ten__, that one time during our ballroom dancing class . . . but I guess now I can sort of better gather why. . . ._

". . . . I'm sorry," was all Blair could manage, apologizing once more, although this time more so for her _own_ misgivings about her cousin's obviously cherished companion. It was then _her_ turn to feel suddenly incapable of looking at the other blonde, as she then dropped her gaze and hand away from her, and instead looked at their pair of lightly grazing knees.

It wasn't like her at _all_ to traditionally judge others, or to place any sort of label upon anyone, whether she knew any of them well, or not. And so her present shame over it was that much _more_ great, as she continued to keep her blue eyes downcast, silently wishing that Portia were there right now, so that she could admit her personal wrongdoing and apologize to _her_, as well.

". . . . I like that you care so much," Delancy softly stated with a smile permeating within her voice, which caused Blair to brave a glance at her once more. She then watched as her royal advisor gave a brief nod at this, before slowly broadening the simper. "It's _true_, Blair . . . it's something I've _always_ secretly admired about you, really. How _compassionate_ you are, and so easily forgiving, as well. . . . It seems that I possess a pretty _nasty_ jealous tendency within me, as, just like with Portia, I found myself feeling envious of _you_ at times because of that. . . ."

". . . . _R-Really?_ But, I mean . . . what is there to really be jealous about with _me_, though? If anything, _I_ should have been the one to be jealous of _you_, over how _flawless_ you've always seemed to be, especially with all that _confidence_ going for you, as well," Blair confessed, herself, her cheeks growing flushed as she felt the self-assurance she had only recently built up for _herself_ beginning to waver a tiny bit within those moments.

Delancy exhaled, for what felt like the umpteenth time to her then, as her previously strong smile weakened slightly.

"'_Seemed_,' being the operative word, there," she remarked with a light frown, briefly looking away from the other blonde a moment, before returning her gaze. "_Obviously_ I _do_ possess some flaws, probably more than I care to admit, even to myself . . . and I'm definitely _far_ from perfect, as well, if my recent, previous confession wasn't any sort of indication. . . . And, to be honest even further, I don't even really think I'm all that _brave_, either. . . ."

Blair didn't honestly have to search her mind that long in order to understand exactly what Delancy was now referring to, _especially_ not now, now that the undeniable pain was becoming effortlessly etched upon her otherwise unmarred countenance.

". . . . It's . . . _never_ all that easy for _most_ people to consciously defy a parent, Delancy," she commented gently, replacing her hand onto Delancy's body, this time upon her bare left knee. "I know that it would have been pretty hard for _me_, as well, if _I_ had to suddenly go against my _own_ mother for anything. . . ."

Delancy gazed back at Blair with an odd sort of vacancy filtering into her brown eyes a moment, before she immediately scrunched up her face as she struggled to choke back a broken sob of blatant anguish.

"I-I . . . I have never _once_ spoken against my mother's wishes, _or_ gone against them, not _once_, within my entire life! N-Not _really, _at least never for anything _serious_. . . . A-And . . . And the one time I finally _do_, for something _truly_ important, she refers to me as a '_useless_ child!'" she cried within heartache, immediately covering her face with the both of her hands, as the events of the previous day at last seemed to be catching up to her within its entirety.

Blair wanted so desperately to say something, _anything_ to comfort the emotionally wounded girl before her, but nothing would come out, try as she might.

What _could_ have been said, in all honesty?

_No_ child, no matter the type of existing relationship, _ever_ wished to hear or learn of their parents' disapproval of them, after all, with _any_ sort of words of solace doing quite little to mend the jarring affect generally experienced as a result.

And given that Delancy had had to endure such an overpowering event, not only before her classmates and formerly future court, but _also_ had had it televised _live_ throughout the entire kingdom, Blair was absolutely certain that there truly _wasn't_ a thing at all she could possibly do to make her cousin's _own_ sort of fall from grace hurt any less.

Still, she knew that she _had_ to try. . . .

"I-I . . . I know that I can't possibly _begin_ to understand all that you must be feeling right now, Delancy, as my _own_ mother has never said anything _remotely_ close as that to me before," Blair began weakly, mentally kicking herself for her admittedly insensitive wording, given the current circumstances, "b-but . . . no matter _how_ you may feel, or what your mom now thinks, you are _not_ useless . . . and you definitely _are_ brave, _trust_ me. . . ."

Blair watched within a bit of relief as Delancy slowly uncovered her now completely reddened and brokenheartedly tear stained face, and warily peeked over the tips of her fingers to look upon her.

". . . . O-Oh . . . O-Oh _yeah?_ How can you be so _sure_, Blair, when _I-I'm_ not even sure, myself? I'm not so sure of much of _anything_ anymore," she whispered in between wet sobs, lowering her gaze once more. "My entire existence is _completely_ altered now. . . . I was always known as 'the future Princess Delancy, ruler of Gardania,' and on top of the world with all of the answers and everything awarded to me without hesitation. And _now_ . . . I don't have _any_ answer to speak of . . . _or_ a family, at that. . . ."

Blair lightly bit her bottom lip as she felt her heart begin to sting all over again, especially now, as it was almost as though she were looking into a mirror.

"Delancy . . . I think that you might be within the _perfect_ company right now," she said with a faint smile, which strengthened the moment she'd caught sight of the other girl's naturally surprised expression. "It's true. . . . I mean, I'm really _not_ trying to make light of your situation or to patronize you in any sort of way about it . . . but I honestly _do_ understand how you feel, at least about no longer having any of the answers. After all, _my_ life has _also_ been completely changed, as well, with me now being expected to fill the tailor-made shoes _you_ were once meant to possess all along. . . . At least, by comparison, you actually _did_ have the answers and proper know-how for the position, unlike _myself_, where I'll probably have to do a lot of '_winging_ it' as I first start out as active ruler, even _with_ your assistance. . . ."

Blair paused a moment, allowing Delancy (who seemed to be thankfully calming down a bit then) time to fully process her little speech. She then reached out with both arms and gently rested her hands upon her cousin's shoulders all over again before continuing.

"I believe that, _without_ a doubt, you _will_ find your way again, Delancy, sooner, or later . . . because you really _are_ a lot stronger than you give yourself credit for. That's one thing I can tell about you already, without question," she complimented with a renewed smile, lightly applying pressure to her Lady Royal's shoulders within furthered consolation. "And . . . at the risk of sounding a bit insensitive or something here, but what . . . Dame Devin has done has naturally affected _me_, as well. But . . . I've decided that I'm going to do my very best not to let it – Let _her_ get me down, _or_ impede my overall capabilities as Princess of Gardania, just to _spite_ her. . . . And one more, _very_ important thing, I might add? You are _not_ alone in _any_ of this, Delancy, _or_ without family . . . because you still have _me_. _And_ Emily and _my_ mother, at that, as they're also now a part of _your_ family, as well, or did you already forget?"

Delancy promptly blinked a bit rapidly within surprise at this, a soft gasp escaping past her lips as the realization just then sank in.

_Blair's right . . . I __do__ still have family. . . . I suppose I really __did__ forget, after all,_ she mused as a faint, glimmer of hope that her life really wasn't as abominable, or as overwhelmingly isolating as she'd previously felt it to be began to take root within her heart.

". . . . _T-Thank_ you, _Cousin_ Blair . . . for everything," Delancy spoke with a shy smile, openly referring to the other blonde as her 'cousin' for the very first time, as she blindly reached up to wipe a few stray and final tears away from her face. "At least now I also know for _sure_ that I'd done the right thing in the end, by relinquishing the throne to you . . . because I can already see that the people of Gardania will be in good hands. . . ."

_Although I do wonder if Blair honestly __is__ holding up about all of this as well as she's portraying_, she added silently to herself with a momentary, worried crease of her eyebrows, before letting the thought fade away into the background, if only for the time being. _Maybe she simply figures that only __one__ of us can break down at a time . . . sad to say. . . ._

Delancy quietly watched as the other girl in question curiously rose to her feet, and made a move towards her mostly empty nightstand, where a small box of tissues were propped neatly atop it. The two young women then began to share a shamefaced sort of grin with one another as Blair returned to her seat moments later, box in hand.

"'Cousin Blair . . .' never been called that before by anyone, naturally, but I think I'm gonna get used to it – _And_ like it pretty quickly," she said with a broadening grin and light blush within her smooth cheeks as she sat back down, slowly extending the box of tissues to an equally abashed Delancy before her. "And thank _you_ for calling me that, Delancy . . . or should _I_ say '_Cousin_ Delancy,' instead, myself! It really _does_ mean a lot to me, though . . . as I'm pretty sure you could tell that family means the _world_ to me. . . . And thank you, too, for the continued vote of confidence about my new job as princess! But, to be honest? I'm not all that sure where to _begin! _What's meant to be my first order of business, that sort of thing, you know?"

Delancy, whose turn it now was to rise from her own seat before then discreetly turning away in order to blow her nose, turned back around with a slightly more reddened nose as a result, however with a much more confident smile returning onto her face as she spoke.

"Well . . . how about we simply settle with heading to _breakfast, _or _brunch_, by now, for starters? I'm sure that your mother, and now also Miss Emily have been waiting back at the palace long enough," she replied with a light smirk, her overall demeanor increasingly becoming much more lax, as her temporary moment of unwanted vulnerability seemed to continually subside.

At this, Blair promptly shot back up onto her feet and slapped an open palm to her forehead, before nodding within agreement and already rushing towards the closed dormitory room door.

"_Ohh! _Oh, my gosh, that's _right!_ We'd _really_ better get a move on, before this brunch turns into an early _supper_, at this rate!" she gushed apologetically, fleetingly grabbing her bath robe from the previous evening on her way out of the room.

Delancy merely giggled softly with a small shake of her head and closing of her brown eyes, before calmly making her way towards the now wide open dorm room door.

". . . . I have a _strong_ feeling that life with you from now on is _never_ going to be dull, 'Cous,'" she murmured to herself, carefully tossing her used tissue into the nearby trash receptacle by the doorway, before exiting the room, herself.

* * *

><p>If someone had informed Ellen that not only would she one day be living within the Gardanian Palace, but that one of her very own adopted daughters would turn out to be the sole heir to its throne, she would have expected that they were merely attempting to take the mickey out of her.<p>

Yet, there she now was, feeling that much more proud to be a mother, as she always had, sat within the grand, appropriately golden schemed dining hall of her eldest daughter, Blair's (or, more surprisingly, the long lost _Princess Sophia's_) new home. _Their_ new home.

What a far cry this all turned out to be, from the greatly humble beginnings Ellen had originated, and then to the previously current standings she had managed to establish for her two children. Although having never felt all too ashamed or apologetic for the cards Life had dealt the small Willows Family, knowing that she had always done the absolute best she could to provide for her girls, in truth, Ellen would nonetheless secretly feel like a bit of a failure at times, try as she might not to.

It hadn't been her intention, after all, to have spent the last nineteen years (up until recently, that is) waiting tables at the _Café Gardania _during the day, while spending most early evenings trying to make it on time to acting auditions which were sadly beginning to run dry. And all this while simultaneously attempting to care for the then infant Blair, whom she had unexpectedly and mysteriously found perched upon her apartment's doorstep two years after Ellen had first begun working there.

Ellen had had a 'master plan' of sorts for her life since her early adolescence, with nearly everything figured out down to the letter: Step one, move away from her native, admittedly behind-the-times (back then, and to her, at least) country of Nyarai, and into the seemingly _much_ more 'with it' Gardania, in order to pursue her lifelong dream of becoming a Stage, and then hopefully later, _Screen_ Actress.

Step two, successfully find suitable new living quarters with the little money she'd had to her name at the time, before setting out to find temporary work to help keep food on the table. Step three, audition for as many known productions as possible, before finally landing that one big, fantastic role. And finally, step four, eventually marry and settle down with children, two at the most.

Somewhere along the way Ellen had been neglected of being informed that sometimes the universe simply has other things in mind, as she soon found that out first hand over time. She was once a young, vivacious and overly optimistic twenty-two-year-old when she'd first moved to Gardania, feeling fit as a fiddle and eager to get her new life going on the right track. Then suddenly, she found herself having a more steady job as a _waitress_ than an _actress_ as the years crept on, _and_ with the unanticipated and added responsibilities as a first time mother . . . _sans_ husband, or even _boyfriend_.

But even though it had been rather difficult at times to cope, Ellen, even to this day, never once regretted her decision to take Baby Blair in and adopt her as her own. The young child became a staple of uplifting courage and hope for the single mother, that one day things would finally turn around for them both, and that all of their dreams would soon come true.

In fact, Blair had become such the little blessing within Ellen's life that she had gone right ahead and adopted her _second_ daughter, Emily, a few years later, despite the fact that their overall home life was still rather meager at _best_, and their mother's luck as a famous star had all but vanished by then. . . .

However, _by_ that time, it had become less and less important to Ellen if she did make it at all, or even if the remainder of her once equally important 'steps' had ever come to fruition, either, as her girls were now her everything. The only desire she had left was to simply provide as good a life as she could for them . . . although her now, basic 'career' at the _Café Gardania _continued to pay quite little, bringing her less and less closer to her new goal of moving her little family into a much more appropriate neighborhood.

She supposed she had said neighborhood to thank for her present condition, as well, as her once tip top health had become greatly deteriorated over the years. The environment within that particular area of Gardania had always been rather smoggy, after all, and greatly neglected by comparison to the more uptown communities, and especially the palace's immediate vicinity, itself.

And so that was precisely why Ellen had begun to work like mad during her later years, in order to finally save up enough money to move her family out of that neighborhood once and for all, lest her two children begin to grow physically effected, as well.

And she would have succeeded, as well, she was sure . . . had it not been for the unexpected herniated disc she'd experienced within her lower back one day while on the job nearly three months ago, upon having helped a few of her fellow and then shorthanded employees unload a few new shipments for the café. . . .

Ellen didn't honestly know, even now, whether to feel thankful or heartbroken that Blair had been old enough to take her place at the establishment by then, effectively becoming the _new_ breadwinner of the household. She almost cursed that her eldest daughter had always been quite gifted within her scholastic endeavors growing up, as it had awarded her an early graduation from her high school, one year in advance.

She also almost rued that the young teenager had always been so kindhearted, as well, and never once complained about anything the three Willows women had had to endure throughout the years, due to their continually destitute surroundings.

If only Ellen could have turned back the hands of time in that regard, alone . . . then Blair could have gone ahead and accepted the few, however admirable scholarships she had luckily been awarded in order to attend the colleges of her choice, and thus begin living her _own_ life by her own terms, rather than now living her life for her _mother_ and baby sister. . . .

_It makes me wonder whether or not I __should__ feel like a failure as a mother, after all, or simply continue on within my current pride that everything has somehow managed to work out in the end_, the now forty-one-year-old mother mused with a light sigh at her place at the large, golden hued and oval shaped dining table.

Ellen continued to study her eldest child in silence, as the girl moved around the table and quietly served her mother, and an avidly tittering Emily a piping hot spot of tea, with such confidence Ellen had admittedly never before seen the blonde possess.

It nearly brought renewed tears to her soft brown eyes to continually witness, as the undeniable, overall change within the newly crowned princess of Gardania was truly quite the marvel . . . even a bit more so than the actual fact that Blair was suddenly revealed to be a princess within the first place.

She had always simply been _Ellen's_ 'princess,' and hers, alone, much like _Emily_ was to her, as well, after all. But she had also always known, deep down, that Blair was destined for absolute greatness and was truly special, beyond the special circumstances of her premiere arrival into her adopted mother's life.

And now, the _rest_ of the kingdom would soon see this for themselves, as well. . . .

"Oh, Blair, I really wish you would let your sister and I help serve this Brunch," Ellen said with a soft, apologetic smile towards the girl in question, who then stopped within her tracks to flash the older woman a mimicking simper of her own.

"It's all right, Mom, really! And anyway, it's my own fault that we're even having 'this Brunch' at all, instead of a '_Breakfast_,' seeing as I'd woken up so late today," the blonde replied with a light wave of her left, free hand, before carefully setting down the elegant and intricately designed porcelain teapot onto an empty spot of the neatly set dining table. "I really _am_ sorry, again, for that! I hope that me and Emily – E-Er, 'Emily and _I'_ hadn't kept you waiting for too long. . . ."

Ellen's previous smile warmed all the more upon listening to her first adopted daughter apologize for her uncharacteristic tardiness once more, as well as for her having promptly corrected her momentary poor grammar.

_I suppose the charm school really __had__ worked wonders for my little girl, after all_, the brunette mused, before shaking her head and addressed her child once again.

"It really wasn't any bother, Blair, I told you. As I said, I, _too_, had ended up sleeping in a tiny bit, myself, anyhow. I suppose it was all in thanks to that mattress within my guestroom; it was simply _divine_," Ellen said with a renewed smile, reaching toward her right in order to lightly stroke a still giggling Emily upon her brown colored, and continually pigtail-free head. "In fact, the previous night's rest had been _so_ restful, that I can't recall the last time I'd felt this . . . _rejuvenated_, I suppose! And, of course, having your cousin, Delancy, come in earlier this morning to personally serve me a bit of Elevenses in the meantime was quite a pleasant, and _wonderful_ treat, as well! _Such_ a sweet child, that girl is. . . ."

As though her ears had been burning, right in that moment did Delancy suddenly appear, or _reappear_ as was the case, upon having excused herself in order to retrieve the Willows Family's brunch. Both Ellen and Blair were now far too transfixed upon the newcomer, _and_ the grand, silver tray of delectable treats within hand to have noticed that Emily had curiously promptly ceased within her previously ongoing glee.

For there it was, again.

That unexpected, and _thoroughly_ unwanted nagging feeling of intermingled worry and . . . perhaps _jealousy? First_, Emily had been fleetingly, although nonetheless palpably concerned that her sister, Blair would perhaps change and eventually forget about her over time . . . and _now_ she regrettably found herself that the same could possibly be said about their _mother_.

After all, she, _too_, already seemed to be changing, herself, _and_ overnight, at that, the way the older woman now possessed a sort of kick within her step, as well an overall, jaunty appearance. The color within her mother's cheeks was rapidly returning to her, as well, almost as though by some unknown magic, making her appear _much_ more youthful than ever before . . . _especially_ within the fanciful, long-sleeved and turtlenecked, cream colored sweaterdress she was presently adorned within.

Emily hadn't ever previously realized that her mother _could_ look so young and almost . . . _girly_ before now, seeing as she had always seemed to prefer wearing quite the humble sort of attire, and bulky robes to stay warm, even during the spring and summertime. And, of course, the woman's walking cane and vaguely drab hairstyle also hadn't helped much within staving off the elderly women-like illusion.

So the surprise was certainly all _Emily's_ upon first taking in the sight of her mother, when the young preteen had been escorted into the dining hall by Grace and Wickellia, who both kindly continued to remain behind about the Gardanian Palace if needed, rather than at last return to their own home with the rest of their Sprite kin.

Granted, Emily, herself, was currently looking a tad different, as well, what with the baby blue, and softly glittered flutter-sleeved dress she now had on, a dress which was quite possibly the most gorgeous piece of attire she had ever worn within her entire life.

Still.

_A lot_ seemed to be changing already to her, or at least the _feeling_ . . . she just hoped that they would merely be good, _welcomed_ changes on the whole, that's all. . . .

"Would you like some help, Delancy?" Emily heard herself ask the older girl, a bit unexpectedly, considering her continually conflicted feelings towards her. She really _did_ wish to assist her, and also really did hope that the two would get along well, as they thankfully already _seemed_ to be thus far.

They, too, were now _also_ technically cousins, after all.

But it didn't mean that she was in any rush to _fully_ share Blair with her, or even the _rest_ of the kingdom, for that matter . . . not _yet_, at least.

Apparently not having expected to be spoken to directly by the younger girl, as the occasions have so far been few and far in between, Delancy blinked within undeniable surprise as she turned her caramel blonde head toward her a moment, and smiled while continuing to approach.

"Oh! No, but thank you for the offer, Miss Emily. I am pretty good at balancing heavy objects, as your sister can tell you," she revealed with a small smile, momentarily then shifting her gaze onto a lightly smirking Blair, before gingerly setting the serving tray onto the dining table. "Now . . . I hope that you'll all find the food to be adequate. It was a bit like moving around within the dark, just as it had been when I'd issued a full wardrobe request on each of your behalf, Ms. Willows and Miss Emily . . . so I just sort of made a bit of everything."

At this, Blair promptly let out a rather loud gasp, her peaches and cream complexion growing a bit rosy as a result. She then swiftly moved to her cousin's side, the hem of her eggplant, one-shoulder maxi dress, as well as the tail end of her now neatly combed, French-Braided hair both lightly whipping behind her in the process.

"_Wow! _You mean . . . Delancy, _you_ made all of this?" she breathed within awe and a small wave of her hand towards the temporarily untouched assortment of mouthwatering food laid out before them all. A colorful array of pastries and freshly baked bread, pancakes, syrup, scrambled eggs, and newly picked fruits adorned the shimmering tray, alongside creamy and smooth looking butter, which appeared as though it could have been freshly churned not too long ago.

There was also a large bowl of crisp salad, as well as another bowl next to it, filled with what appeared to be creamy Vichyssoise. Even a plate decoratively spread with _shrimp_ was evidently on the menu for the Willows Family.

Blair had ample reason to feel quite impressed with her Lady Royal's evident talent within the culinary arts, as each dish appeared as though they had come straight out of a fanciful _picture_. Not even the various meals which had been served back within the charm school could compare, and each one of _those_ had been rather picturesque and tantalizing within their own right.

However, the young princess had a strong feeling that the brunch she and her family were about to partake within would most probably blow away _all_ of their senses, and leave a lasting impression upon them all for it.

"Oooh, Mom,_ look!_ Chocolate Chip Pancakes! _And_ strawberries! My _favorites!_" Emily squealed within blatant approval of her own, and before Delancy could respond to Blair's previous inquiry. The remaining females softly chuckled at the youngest girl's ample delight, before the apparent chef in question gently lifted Emily's empty, gold rimmed plate in order to begin serving her in kind.

"I'm glad I had gone with my last minute decision to add the chocolate chips, then; somehow, I'd just had a gut feeling you might appreciate the addition, Miss Emily. At least, I know _I_ always do, myself," Delancy remarked with a small grin towards the beaming, petite girl at her left, as she delicately placed three golden brown pancakes onto her plate. She then turned her attention back onto Blair and finally awarded her with a proper response. "And to answer your previous question, Blair, I . . . well, yes, I _did_ prepare each dish you see before you, although the palace cooks did assist a bit, as otherwise I don't think I'd have finished making everything in time to serve for your brunch. . . ."

"'_Brunch?_' Now this is more like a full _banquet!_" Blair gushed within continued admiration for the other blonde's culinary feat. "You weren't _kidding_ when you said that you had taken the liberty of already getting a couple things done on my behalf this morning! I had _no_ idea, though, that you were so _gifted_ at cooking! Well, I suppose I _wouldn't_, I mean, seeing as you and I never really _did_ hang out throughout the entire semester, and all of our meals _had_ always been prepared by the charm school chefs and . . . yeah. . . ."

Blair trailed off upon the realization that she was now, in effect, rambling, in addition to once again more or less touching upon a subject, a shared, recent past which was still rather tender for them both, even _with_ the heart to heart the pair had just experienced almost an hour prior.

Delancy did not seem to mind, however, although a faint rouge did begin to creep along her smooth cheeks as she calmly set down Emily's pancake and strawberry filled plate.

"Well, no . . . I suppose you wouldn't, or _couldn't_ have known, of course. Not many people _do_, in all honesty," she said with a light nod of furthered affirmation, taking a small step back away from the dining table, as she took a moment to further explain herself before continuing to serve the rest of Blair's family. "This palace has always been rather, well, _spacious_, naturally, and, not counting the various attendants on call, it's just always been my mother and I . . . and Headmistress Privet, of course, living here. So that frees up a lot of time to rediscover, or _discover_, altogether, newfound hobbies and talents one might possess. And, as it so turned out, _cooking_ happened to be _mine_. . . ."

"That's _wonderful_, Prin - E-Er, _Viscountess_ Delancy," Ellen complimented, before promptly amending herself with a warm smile, clearly still needing a bit of time to get better used to the overall situation, as well. "So, then, do you cook or bake quite often? I imagine your attendants and, perhaps, past party guests must have _thoroughly_ enjoyed many a meal from you, as I know _we're_ about to, ourselves."

Both Blair, and even Emily smiled generously at their mother's natural kindness, before simultaneously nodding within agreement and returning their attention back onto a now profusely blushing Delancy . . . who curiously also now looked a tad doleful by the notion.

"Just '_Delancy_' will do fine, if that's all right with you, Ms. Willows, thank you," she politely corrected with a light smile towards the older woman, before it slowly began to fade as she continued. "I . . . haven't honestly gotten a lot of chances to enter the royal kitchens growing up, actually, not unless it was to simply be served something by someone, instead. My mother . . . well, she was pretty strict about that – About _a lot _of things, really. . . . When she finally caught me trying my hand at baking some brownies when I was around twelve-years-old or so – Which was also when I'd started to be seriously interested within cooking – she'd promptly put a stop to it. Or _tried_ to, anyway, as you can see the end results before you. . . ."

"Wh . . . Whoteveh _forh?_ Thif if _delishshish!_" Emily piped up with a wide, thankfully closed lipped grin, as her mouth was suddenly quite full of mixed strawberries and chocolate chip pancakes.

Rather than be admonished for such a poor display of the sound table manners as she _normally_ would have, her mother (alongside the two remaining girls) merely let out a startled giggle, before calmly reaching for Emily's unused table napkin and began to gently wipe around the edges of her small mouth, as though still an infant.

"Oh, _Emily_ . . . it really _is_ a shame that you're still too young to enroll at the charm school," Ellen teased with a growing smile of honest amusement, her youngest child then flashing her a sheepish grin before the pair gazed upon the two blondes standing before them. "I'm sorry about that . . . _Delancy_. Sometimes my daughter can have _quite_ the way with words. . . ."

Softly chuckling at the mild jest, Delancy shook her head with a briefly raised hand.

"Not a problem, Ms. Willows. It's simply nice to see that my hunch within possible food choices for today's brunch has been so far correct," she replied, before shifting her honey brown eyes onto a now empty mouthed Emily. "And thank _you_, Miss Emily, for . . . what I _think_ had been a compliment! But as to 'whatever for,' since I was meant to be Gardania's princess one day, I suppose my mother just didn't feel it was necessary, or perhaps even _flattering_, for me to know how to do anything beyond boiling _water_, where kitchen affairs were concerned. . . . But I personally never viewed it as such the big deal, really, especially since I seemed to be pretty good at it, and it always managed to put me at _such_ ease while doing it . . . so that's why I stuck with it. In _secret_, of course . . . I didn't wish to make my mother upset any further about it. . . ."

Blair, the only one amongst the Willows women to obviously be aware of how potentially sensitive the current topic of conversation might soon become for her cousin (at least, where the focus upon the presently incarcerated Dame Devin was concerned), immediately sprung into action just then, as she placed a hand upon Delancy's shoulder with one hand, and waved her free hand towards the delectable spread upon the golden dining table.

"Well, personally, _I_ think that it's _good_ that you kept up with your gifts, Delancy! You're _obviously_ passionate about it," she began with a warm grin, before teasingly adding, "and I think that if if this 'Lady Royal' gig doesn't work out for you, you could always start your own _catering_ business! 'Café Gardania,' for example, would most definitely _kill_ to have some of these cute little pastries added to their menu!"

Delancy lightly rolled her eyes at this as she smirked, herself, moving back closer to the table as she then gingerly seized Ms. Willows's still empty plate, this time.

"I don't know about any of _that_, Blair, so let's not go _too_ far. Like I said, I just mainly do it for fun, and as a way to unwind whenever I might be feeling . . . _stressed_. And considering I was formerly on my way to governing an entire _country_, I was cooking and baking pretty much every chance I got!" she remarked with a furthered simper, before promptly turning her caramel blonde head towards the _new_ ruler of Gardania. "Oh! I'm sorry about that! I didn't mean it the way it sounded, as though I'm trying to _scare_ you, or anything! _H-Here! _Why don't you take a seat, and I'll outfit your plate with some of my 'cute little pastries,' after I've finished serving your mother?"

"Thanks, Delancy, but I don't _need_ you to 'outfit' my plate for me, _or_ to act as my _servant_, altogether, for that matter," Blair stated with a sort of apologetic air of her own, moving past the other blonde to retrieve both hers, as well as the plate she had set out for Delancy upon her temporary vanishing act. "You're my _Lady Royal_, my _advisor_ for and about . . . _you_ know! Royal . . . _stuff! That's_ what I chose you for, _not_ to be someone who'd wait on me hand and foot. I feel guilty enough that this palace is probably _filled_ with hundreds of attendants who will all want to do precisely the same for me as time goes on. No. I can take care of myself, remember . . . all in thanks to my _mom_, of course! Although, _as_ my Lady Royal, you can feel free to pass along the message to them about that – About _me_, that is - but they're more than welcome to help look after _Mom_ and _Emily_, instead . . . even though I dare say such 'royal treatment' just might go straight to her little head over time. . . ."

"_H-Hey!_" Emily snapped with a momentary pout after having just then finished taking a sip of her warm tea, before both she and her older sister mirrored the other as their noses wrinkled and pink tongues briefly flashed one another within mock upset.

Ellen, who then began to lightly chuckle once more towards the various antics of her children, also shook her brown colored head in that moment, however in regards to her eldest daughter's previous announcement.

"Oh, _no_, Blair! I wouldn't _dream_ of imposing upon anyone like that! It was . . . hard enough doing so upon _you_ earlier this year, while I recovered from my injury," she started in strength, before trailing off into a quiet, weakened fervor. The moment was gone just as quickly as it had arrived, however, as she then immediately flashed both of her girls, as _well_ as Delancy a generous smile.

She still absolutely refused to allow any sort of guilt, or any _other_ type of affect to ever wash over her daughters, namely _Blair_, for their previous predicament. If anyone were to claim such an emotional burden, Ellen always preferred that it solely rest upon her _own_ shoulders, as most good mothers would.

Nonetheless, Blair instantly then took on her mother's affliction as part of her _own_, as they both knew she normally would, and set down both dining plates in order to envelope the older woman within a warm embrace.

"Oh, _Mom_ . . . don't worry about it, _please_. You never _should_ have in the first place! You know that I never once minded taking over your job at 'Café Gardania' while you got better," she murmured tenderly, planting an equally tender kiss atop the brunette's head and gently tickling her nose in the process, due to the small daisy which had been daintily tucked behind the woman's ear as a finishing touch to her overall ensemble. "And _besides! _That's all behind us now, _anyway_, right? Now, living here at the palace, Delancy can help me locate and then hire the absolutely _best_ doctor for you, while the ample fresh, mountain air simultaneously assists within mending your condition! And by the looks of how positively _radiant_ you are – Well, more than _usual_, of course – I'd say that it's already doing the trick!"

Ellen exhaled contentedly into her eldest child's bare arm as she blindly hugged her back, before slowly pulling away to smile proudly up at her.

"I suppose I really _did_ raise a rather magnanimous princess all along, after all," she spoke with a slightly moist, shaky voice, as it was clear that her present, motherly emotions were beginning to overtake her. She then reached out to wrap one arm around a softly smiling Emily at her side, before turning her attention onto a now awkward appearing Delancy still standing near the three of them. "I don't think that I could be any luckier to have two, such _wonderful_ daughters . . . _and_ one wonderfully talented _niece_. . . ."

Delancy immediately felt her heart give a sharp jolt behind her breastplate within affect, upon listening to Blair's mother extend her bonding sort of moment of reflection to _her_, as well . . . even to the point of also referring to her as her 'niece' for the first time.

And just as it had made her feel to have listened to _Blair_ call her her '_cousin_' not too long before, she once again felt a great surge of returned belonging and acceptance as a result. . . .

"Oh, gosh . . . _t-thank _you for that, Ms. Willows," Delancy breathed with a faint, but growing smile, feeling more and more thankful, herself, to have suddenly found herself a part of such an undeniably warm, and strong family dynamic.

She then curiously watched as all three of her newfound family members began to lightly giggle, seemingly at her expense.

"I think that, if _I_ can call you '_Delancy_,' if not also my '_niece_,' as well, then perhaps you can manage referring to me as '_Aunt Ellen_' from now on, don't you think?" Ellen questioned jovially, extending the hand formerly wrapped around Emily's shoulder towards Delancy, who then shyly claimed it within her own.

"I-I . . . think that I can, yes . . . _Aunt Ellen_," she politely responded with a slight cock of her blonde head, her continued embarrassment still working a number on her.

Regardless, it really _did_ feel quite nice to be so surrounded, almost _smothered_ within such love and affection, which was admittedly a far cry from what she had always been much more accustomed to where her _own_ mother was concerned, and sadly so.

Plus, it also felt rather neat for the young Viscountess to now be able to say that she actually possessed an _extended_ family at all, one which was still alive, that is.

Two cousins.

One aunt.

That was three more kin than she'd naturally ever expected to lay claim to within her young life, after all.

It was . . . foreign, yet familiar all at once.

For the remainder of that warmhearted and rather relaxed brunch, the Willows and Devin families ate, drank, and shared various stories with one another, mainly about each of their childhoods (although a bit reluctantly at first for Delancy, who still possessed a few traces of guardedness, even then), including Ellen's . . . which was, in all honesty, one of the few times in both Blair's and Emily's lives they each could actively recall their mother ever doing so.

At least, within such attentive detail, anyhow.

It was also the first time either girl had ever learned of the older woman's former dream to be a stage and screen actress in the first place, _and_ that she wasn't even a native of Gardania. And while such revelations _did_ warm each sibling's heart to be privy to, it also made them feel a slight sense of shame never to have known before, or to have even thought to actively inquire about the full details of her past.

Perhaps each girl had merely assumed that it was a 'don't ask, don't tell' sort of scenario, as it were, as Ms. Willows had never gone out of her way to outline every last facet of her life, either, certainly not within the manner she had done so during their shared meal together then.

The change within scenery and environment really _did_ appear to be already working wonders for the traditionally reserved and humble older woman, after all. . . .

And then suddenly, before any of them knew it, it was already approaching one o'clock within the afternoon, and their premiere brunch, indeed, their premiere meal all together within the palace drew to an admittedly unfortunate close.

It was also when, and unexpectedly so, _Headmistress Privet_ then appeared within the dining hall's entrance-way, alongside a small hand of palace attendants who immediately headed towards the vast table to clear it, most probably at her scheduled prompting.

Catching sight of her first, Blair swiftly flew up out of her seat across from Emily out of esteemed respect for the _Princess Charm School_ instructor, before Delancy, as well, followed suit upon noticing the older woman, as well.

She, like Blair, clearly, had _also_ always held Alexandra Privet within the highest regard throughout the years, whether or not the woman in question had ever been aware. And given Delancy's once habitual nature to be far less than courteous towards others, even including her, at times, it was highly unlikely.

Still, having shared the palace grounds with her, even if not within immediate, similar dwellings (and thus, quite honestly very rarely crossed paths with the woman), Delancy couldn't help but to revere the avidly confident, conscientious, and authoritative, yet kind headmistress.

In truth, she had sort of become an individual she had hoped to model herself after, once she had become princess of Gardania . . . even if, in furthered truth, she did not really know all too much about her beyond her _Princess Charm School_ persona.

Little did Delancy, and indeed, _Blair_, know, that was soon all about to change. . . .

"Headmistress Privet! Good mor – N-No, _afternoon! _Mom, Emily, you remember Headmistress Privet from last night's festivities, don't you? I really can't possibly thank her enough for all of the help she'd given me throughout the entire charm school semester! _Otherwise_, I probably wouldn't even _be_ here right now!" Blair rambled within esteemed adoration for the respectable woman, who slowly continued to approach the quartet of women within the usual air of collected calm and elegance.

Although, the longer Blair, and also Delancy, continued to look upon the traditionally tightly bun haired, blazer and long skirt attired brunette, the more they each began to sense that something was perhaps a little off about her, even through the normal execution of serenity she typically exuded.

"Ah, yes, of _course_ we do, Blair! It really _had_ been a pleasure to have made your acquaintanceship the previous evening, Headmistress Privet. _Wasn't_ it, Emily?" Ellen said with a small smile of appreciation towards the other older woman and her evidently generous tutorial efforts for her eldest daughter, watching within the corner of her eye as her _youngest_ slowly nodded within momentary timidness, before taking her hand and lifting the two of them out of their seats, as well.

Headmistress Privet, whose hands were clasped (a bit _tightly_, her former students did manage to take notice of) behind her midnight colored back, calmly raised one before her, signaling for her fellow brunettes to stop what they were doing.

"_Always_ a pleasure, indeed, Ms. Willows, _and_ to you, Miss Emily. But, please, no need to rise on _my_ account – _Any_ of you, as I don't anticipate staying for very long," she soothingly revealed within the usual, lacy foreign accent she possessed, and a small smile upon her wheat colored countenance. "As it seems as though you have all concluded within your meal, I wonder if it would be at all possible to have a word with Princess Sophia and Viscountess Delancy for a moment? I shall do my best not to keep them for _too_ long, of course."

At this, Emily curiously began to giggle softly to herself, before immediately beginning to blush once she'd realized that all eyes, including that of the small sea of palace attendants all around her, were now upon her.

"O-Oh!_ Sorry! _It's just that . . . it's still a little bit weird to hear Blair be referred to as her unexpected royal title, _and_ birth name," she explained quietly, lightly tucking her brown colored head down a bit within furthered abashment.

Headmistress Privet merely smiled kindly towards the petite girl within response, while Ms. Willows gently squeezed the child's shoulders in comfort, and both Blair and Delancy already made their way around the large dining table to meet their former instructor.

"Take all the time you need, Headmistress Privet, please. I think after this, perhaps Emily and I might do a bit of exploring around the palace, if that is all right with everyone, that is," Ellen replied within politeness, pulling a still lightly blushing Emily towards her within motherly protectiveness.

Headmistress Privet appeared to be momentarily conflicted by the other woman's announcement, as her soft brown eyebrows then furrowed a bit, before she slowly cleared her throat.

"Ah, yes . . . but of course. After all, this _is_ your home now, as well. _Do_ enjoy yourselves," she said, just as tardily, before flashing the pair in question a faint smile. She then turned her attention back onto Delancy and Blair, who continually waited at her side within silence. "Now, then! _Shall_ we, girls?"

Both _Princess Charm School _graduates simultaneously nodded before obediently following after the school's headmistress, giving a brief wave of goodbye towards the remaining Willows women as they did so.

Once the trio had promptly exited the dining hall, the palace's attendants beginning to do so, themselves, as well, Ellen then let out an abrupt exhale as she carefully leaned forward and gazed upon her remaining daughter at her side.

"Well! Shall _we_, then, Honey?" she asked with cheerful optimism, which nearly rivaled that of Emily's habitual own.

Emily instantly began to beam from ear to ear, before nodding eagerly.

"Uh huh! I've been _dying_ to check out the rest of the palace for _ages_, now! Let's go!" she replied excitedly, tightly seizing her mother's right hand and quickly, yet _somehow_ at the same time, gingerly led her out of the now empty dining hall.

**End of Chapter One**

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><p><strong>(A.N. Yeah, was going to continue after here, but figured, at twenty-eight pages, and who the heck knows if anyone even read it, I thought I'd just leave it here, as a sort of cliffhanger of sorts. Looking forward to doing more Miss Privet scenes, though, as the following chapter shall begin with, so that should be fun. And yeah, I know that her accent is of the English nature, okay, but keeping with the slight 'unknown' format the movie sort of seemed to establish, what with 'Gardania' being a countrykingdom, and all of these other unknown kingdoms coming into play for the other princesses, I thought that I wouldn't necessarily cite her accent, and merely refer to it as 'foreign.' At least, 'foreign' by comparison to the ones majority of the citizens of Gardania possess, themselves, anyhow.**

**Anyway, a lot a lot was covered in this chapter, clearly 93% of it being manifested by me, yeah, but then, I'd already stated that I intend to flesh out a lot of the movie's characters, both major and minor, and create or add onto each of their back-stories. And as for Blair's mom, seeing as her 'illness' or 'injury' never was actually named, although Blair did pass mention to how 'she should be better by now,' thus making it a potentially short lived affliction, I thought I'd just give her a herniated disc in her back as the culprit. And seeing as majority of similar cases tend to usually heal on their own in time, on average, between six to twelve weeks or so, blah blah, I figured that that would place the time line for perhaps when Ellen had to stop working and Blair had to start in her stead, in addition to when she perhaps would have gone off to college somewhere, and also when the charm school was set to open. **

**So...yeah. Think around beginning of July Ellen had the accident, Blair took over and has been seeking treatment for her mother and also taking over the 'save enough money for a better home' dream, and then around two months later in September, when the charm school semester would begin – In my story/mind, anyway lol – that's when, surprise, surprise, Blair's entry gets chosen to attend, etc. And again, now, with the better environment, like Blair said, her mom's sure to get better a lot faster, as well, with the fresh air, much better food, better rest (and yes, treatment, of course). =) Of course, now, that hardly matters, since none of them need to work...ever...again. Lol**

**What else, what else...oh. I know that cutey-face Delancy might seem so...squishy now, within an emotionally vulnerable sense, by comparison to the "Suck it!", headstrong attitude she'd possessed within the actual movie. I suppose so. LoL But, honestly, as I'd written within the actual tale, here, a lot, a LOT a lot of emotionally jarring things had happened, and in just one day's time, at that. And couple that with seventeen years of the same routine, prior, with everything pretty much being set in stone and a less-than-perfect or ideal mother, however was still her mother, nonetheless, suddenly and openly turning on her before being carded away, and...yeah. I suspect ANYONE would honestly crumble under the weight of its overall magnitude, really.**

**Still. I'm having a lot of fun with remolding this 'top 3 fave characters within the movie' gal. =)**

**Anyhow, I'd touch upon the rest of the things I'd created/added into their overall 'universe,' but honestly, after twenty-eight pages, I just can't. LoL And again, I doubt anyone read it, or at least all the way through. If you had, however, my thanks to you, and please to be trusting me/my train of thought with this overall tale! Thanks!**

**And, of course, stay tuned for the following chapter, with more of 'everyone's' favorite, Miss Privet!)**


	3. Chapter Two: The Royal Family Secret

**The True Measure of Character and Confidence**

**By: Sokai**

**Disclaimer: **I, Sokai, do not claim ownership to the workings of Rainmaker Entertainment, in relation to their "Barbie" movie series (or, indeed, anything else of their creation), specifically (in this particular case), "Barbie: Princess Charm School." However, I can and DO claim to own this story and its inspired ideas FROM said movie.

Note: _Glad to see that this is gradually becoming an interest (at least, as personally indicated to me, by way of review and all, rather than continued hits). My thanks to you, those steadily reading. It should also be noted that, IF you continue to read this story that, yes, there most probably will be long chapters, as that is a part of my writing style. I do not honestly set OUT to make them long, but once I have my chapter outlines and visualization down, that's usually how they turn out._

_Again, those who are more seasoned readers to my overall works on here, are used to this, and thankfully enjoy it._

_Anyhow, I hope this chapter, sixteen pages at least, this time, is also favored, like its predecessor._

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><p>This chapter was createdwritten in October 2011.

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><p><strong>Chapter Two: The Royal Family Secret<strong>

Alexandra Privet was never one to beat around the bush. If something needed to get done or a conflict needed to be remedied, she simply took care of it, without issue. Forthrightness had always been a rather strong forté of hers, naturally, alongside tip top punctuality, proper protocol, and, above all, respect.

Which was precisely why she'd always excelled at what she did for a living, guiding and nurturing the young minds of every princess and lady royal-to-be to pass through the halls of the kingdom of Gardania's prestigious, and world renowned _Princes Charm School_.

Taking the helm of most any, particular situation, and then doling out whatever appropriate tasks about it was quite normally a walk within the proverbial park for the likes of such a headstrong, honestly remarkable woman, just as it generally was quite easy for her to abruptly point out the potential flaws within others, particularly her students, if only in order for them to work toward hopeful improvement.

Evidently, however, it was becoming quite the difficult feat to not only fully own up to her _own_ shortcomings, but to also actively seize control of the moment at hand in order to rectify them, once and for all. . . .

Alexandra was still no fool, however. She was well aware that none of what she was about to do, or say, more specifically, was going to an immediate 'breeze,' as many of her past students seemed to delight within such terminology, she'd always noticed.

And she did, if she could be further honest with herself, one day intend upon alerting Viscountess Delancy to the bit of . . . 'information,' for want of a better word, despite naturally feeling rather quarrelsome about it.

And _especially_ after nearly eighteen years of having kept it to herself, naturally.

The young girl's mother, Dame Nikole Devin hadn't been of any assistance within its regard, as well, or rather, she _had_, as 'mum' had evidently been _her_ favored of all words currently within existence.

But then, that, at least, had never been of any sort of surprise to Alexandra, as, Heaven Bless her, the former fellow charm school instructor, now remanded _felon_, had always been rather _insufferable_, with her eyes eternally on the prize . . . which, in this case, had always been the Gardanian Throne during her later years.

Indeed, Alexandra had _always_ known that this day would come.

It _had_ to.

She merely had not counted upon having to now suddenly share it with the formerly thought to be deceased _Princess Sophia, _as well_._ . . .

Alexandra elegantly sat, perfectly poised and tranquil, as always, upon the gold rimmed and red cushioned old fashioned chair set behind the large, mahogany executive desk inside of her ground floor, private office to the charm school. And sat before her were the two, rather important girls in question, who presently looked anything _but_ serene, themselves.

Little did either of them know, however, the feeling was quite mutual, at least, on the _inside_, as Alexandra dearly felt as though she were meant to jump, head first, into a seemingly never-ending pit.

And that's precisely what she was more or less about to. Whether or not she would make out all right in the end would deplorably remain to be seen. . . .

It had only been around a minute or so when the trio of women first arrived back into the now quite secluded charm school, and then into the establishment's headmistress's equally desolate office (at least, where other persons were concerned, as there were shelves upon shelves of important looking textbooks set all around them), but it instead felt like a lifetime and more had already passed.

And with none of them seeming to dare make a move to speak, the elapsing moments were steadily becoming that much more agonizing.

Finally, Alexandra swallowed down both her pride, as well as her regrettably mounting and uncharacteristic nerves, and opened her mouth up to speak.

". . . . I can only imagine what the both of you girls must presently be thinking, Princess Sophia, Viscountess Delancy," she said (surprisingly to _herself_, at least, all things considered), within the usual calmness her velvety voice would possess.

Blair and Delancy simultaneously shared a momentary gaze towards the other, before tardily returning each of their attention back onto their former headmistress and nodded, also unanimously.

"W-Well . . . to be perfectly honest, Headmistress Privet, I don't believe that either one of us really know _what_ to think at the moment, if you'll forgive us," Blair murmured slowly, the first to find her voice between the two _Princess Charm School_ graduates continually sat before the older woman.

Seeming to have located a bit of steady resolve within her cousin's statement in that moment, Delancy, too, at last found _herself_ able to speak, as well, discreetly clearing her voice before doing so.

". . . . I would have to agree with Bl – _Princess Sophia_, Headmistress Privet," she said with another incline of her Jasmine tinted hair, this time a bit more firmly than before, as she appropriately returned, given the present company, to referring to her cousin by her royal title. "I do wonder, though . . . if this doesn't have anything to do with yesterday's revelations, and eventual coronation of The Princess?"

At this, Alexandra abruptly stiffened, and although the occurrence had barely lasted a mere second, it had not managed to go unnoticed by neither blonde sat before her. However, out of continued respect for their once charm school instructor, and even perhaps a bit of trepidation about it, they each seemed to prefer to let the incident slide.

And although internally grateful that each girl had, Alexandra nonetheless had no other choice but to draw attention onto Delancy's query, as it was quite relevant. . . .

". . . . And by that, you mean?" she responded to the young girl's inquiry with one of her own, her pale green eyes focused calmly upon her, while her heart began to beat a tad bit faster, within contrast.

After all, if _whatever_ Delancy's present train of thought happened to be pertaining to such an eventful day, if right, Alexandra would need to provide a sound explanation. However, if the girl turned out to be _wrong_, she would _still_ need to provide a substantial sort of explanation.

_But, no matter what, this needs to be done . . . for __both__ their sakes_, Alexandra thought within furthered resolution and self-encouragement, before then beginning to listen to a rather nervous appearing Delancy . . . which was, in truth, an occurrence the older woman was not admittedly used to, considering how traditionally confident and rock solid the young Viscountess tended to be, as a part of her _positive_ traits, at least.

Much like _her_. . . .

"O-Oh, well, I merely meant that . . . perhaps it was suddenly discovered by Parliament or whomever else that Princess Sophia really _isn't_ the true heir to the Gardanian Throne, after all," Delancy replied a bit hesitantly, her remark sounding more like a question once more.

Her lightly toasted cheeks instantly became inflamed thereafter, as she then looked from Headmistress Privet to Blair, the both of them appearing to be a bit taken aback by her words. She then quickly shook her head, before smiling faintly and looking pleadingly towards each.

"I-I didn't mean it the way that it sounded!" Delancy promptly apologized, feeling her face regrettably growing more hot as a result. "I merely meant that -"

"- I believe I understand what you meant, Viscountess Delancy, and I can assure you that there was no mistake. In fact, the Magical Crown of Gardania can, and _did_ assure you, _and_ everyone else within the kingdom that there indeed had been _no_ mistake made during yesterday's coronation," Alexandra soothingly interjected with a raised hand and light smile of her own, before suddenly rising to her feet.

"M-Ma'am?" Blair asked with a rapid blinking of her blue eyes by way of coaxing the authoritative woman to continue, watching after her with steady confusion coursing through her.

_It's now or never, Alex_, the brunette mentally nudged herself, her heart skipping a beat as she just then realized that she had used a nickname for herself not uttered by anyone else for quite some time now . . . indeed not ever uttered by anyone else in general, except by _him_. . . .

Viewing that as some sort of cosmic sign, Alexandra exhaled slowly, moving from behind her impressive, wooden desk and placed herself squarely before the two, still awaiting blondes seated in front of her.

"I . . . that is, how to begin. . . ." she started out strongly, before uncommonly trailing off, as she allowed herself another few moments to properly gather her thoughts. "I suppose yesterday's coronation _would_ be as good a place as any. . . . Now, then . . . I am quite positive that the overall news, _especially_ that of what . . . Dame Devin had evidently perpetrated against the Royal Family had been rather shocking to you both, and understandably so, am I correct?"

Both Blair and Delancy made no effort to verbally respond, and instead once again merely gave a shaky nod within unison as a way to suffice.

Evidently feeling satisfied by the simple gesture, they then each watched as Headmistress Privet continued.

"The entire kingdom, I'm sure, extends their avid condolences, and is now presently within renewed mourning over the loss of Queen Isabella, and King Reginald . . . although, I dare say that _no one_ throughout the entire country of Gardania could _possibly_ better understand, and even _appreciate_ the gravity of such recent developments upon you both . . . than _I_," Alexandra curiously revealed with a slight cock and tuck of her head, as she now warily gazed upon each girl through the corner of her green eyes.

She then paused a moment, allowing her former students a bit of time to register her rather poignant words, and wondering if either of them fully comprehended her intended meaning. However, the overwhelming perplexity now riddled upon the girls' faces told her otherwise, and so she decided to start over.

". . . . Dear me . . . I suppose I am regrettably finding this impending deliverance to be a bit more challenging than I had originally anticipated, or indeed _cared_ for," Alexandra spoke softly within open admittance, more so to herself than to the duo of blondes before her, slowly raising a faintly quivering hand up to the side of her head and gently ran it against her brown colored locks.

Blair, apparently seeming to finally catch on to her respected mentor's previous statement, suddenly gasped sharply before shakily asking, "A-Are you . . . that is . . . are you trying to tell us that _you_ are . . . _also_ a member of the Royal Family, Headmistress Privet?"

It was then Delancy's turn to immediately suck in her own breath just as strongly, her face instantly scrunching up into an expression which appeared to be intermingled with, at least, to _Alexandra_, dismay, concern, and even . . . _betrayal_, the last of which the older woman could not honestly fault her upon, especially, for presently experiencing.

Alexandra folded, then unfolded her slender fingers, before interlacing them together once more as she settled them against the front of her smoothly ironed out skirt, and slowly licked her lips as she finally released her little more than a decade old secret within its entirety to the both now greatly affected girls.

". . . . That would be correct, Your Royal Highness," she responded respectfully, inclining her head a bit within furthered acknowledgment towards the new princess of Gardania, before sliding her eyes towards a still, _far_ more stunned looking Delancy by comparison to the other girl. "Both you, and Viscountess Delancy are keenly aware that Dame Devin is the sister of the late King Reginald, of course, making her The Princess's aunt by blood. . . . However, what _neither_ of you are aware of is that The King had . . . _has_ another sister . . . _me_. . . ."

At this, Delancy at last broke free of her formerly mute state, as she abruptly stood from her seat and rapidly shook her blonde colored head within blatant outrage, and even rejection.

"No! B-But that _can't_ be! I-I mean, I have lived within the palace _all_ of my life, and naturally know more about the Royal Family _and_ its history – Or so I _thought_ – than Princess Sophia, by comparison! And I have never _once_ heard _anyone_ make mention of The King's 'other sister,' not even from my own _mother!_" she cried within continued unease, blindly backing away from the tall brunette across from her, as though she were now peering at a ghost.

Blair gazed up at her cousin with profound sympathetic understanding and worry, as while the sudden news of their added lineage was naturally daunting to _her_, as well, she was fully aware that it would be _much_ more earthshaking to the other girl, for all of the reasons she had just then stated, herself.

Seeming to be along the same thought pattern as the cornflower haired princess, Alexandra nodded slowly, her _own_ countenance now reflecting that of affinity, as well, as she hesitantly took a step toward a continually retreating Delancy.

"I don't . . . that is, I am not honestly all _too_ surprised at all that your mother, Dame Devin, would not have ever personally passed mention to me, not even during your earlier youth, where you would have been much more likely to lose such a memory, naturally," she began tardily, pulling back the hand she had momentarily then extended out to the greatly affected viscountess before her, "but it is _quite_ assuredly the truth. I am _indeed_ the sister, the _youngest_ sister, of both your mother, Viscountess Delancy, and your father, Princess Sophia. . . ."

". . . . B-But then . . . why _wouldn't_ Dame Devin ever tell Delancy about this, or any of your shared family portraits be seen about the palace by her, if they indeed exist? A-And, why . . . why wouldn't you have told her, _yourself_, a lot sooner than now?" Blair asked, weakly at first, before finishing with a bit of defensive, familial sort of protection on her cousin's behalf.

Alexandra took no offense by the girl's a tad uncharacteristic coarseness, however, as she understood perfectly, given the present circumstances. She merely exhaled softly, looking upon a now slightly scowling Blair a moment, before keeping her green eyes firmly planted upon a still rather shaken up Delancy, who now stood closest to the sealed office door.

Although she did, in fact, owe them both a full on explanation, she felt that it was perhaps _most_ deserving of Delancy, as the girl _had_ spent the majority of her life living within such close proximity of yet another relative she had never before realized to be that of her own.

". . . . Sophia, Delancy . . . I am _truly_ sorry for all of this," Alexandra started with another exhale, as she surprisingly dropped the formalities regarding both girls, "and I do hope that you will one day understand that, in addition to the fact that it had _never_ been my intent to set out to hurt either one of you . . . or, as the case had always been up until recently, solely _you_, Delancy, as I, like the rest of the kingdom, had believed your cousin to have perished with The King and Queen. . . ."

Alexandra watched with an increasingly heavy heart as her now revealed niece, Delancy, tightly squeezed her soft brown eyes shut a moment and shook her creamy blonde head once more, while her _other_ niece, Sophia, or '_Blair_,' peered up at her without so much as a blink.

A part of her mildly yearned to rewind time for a moment, in order to prevent the undeniably tense situation now laid before them all from ever happening; however, she instead put on a brave face and willed herself to go on.

"You see . . . I suppose I should start at the very beginning, regarding our, that is, _King Reginald's_ side of the family, in order for the both of you to better understand how we'd each gotten to this point, perhaps," she stated as calmly as she could, clasping her hands together in front of her once more. "Our family, the _Devin_ Family, had originated within the country of Urien, which, as you know, or _should_, is neighbored to the north of Gardania. Generations upon generations of our ancestors had always hailed from there, beginning within humble standings, to the more . . . _affluent_ settings of which my brother, sister, and I had always been more accustomed. Our father, your _grandfather_, Donald, and indeed _his_ father before him and so on, in fact, was an avid art collector, financier, and, more primarily, a banker . . . and through the Devin Family's evidently universal, shrewd savvy for business - At least, on the _male_ side of the gene pool, as my mother, Radana, for example, had been quite content as a homemaker – our overall legacy was greatly assured. . . ."

Once more did Alexandra grant her two family members a few moments to interpret the beginning half of her long tale. She watched as Blair's facial expression thankfully began to relax a bit, while _Delancy's_, however, remained just as rife with overall consternation, as she turned her lithe body away from both women, a tad.

Alexandra's felt her finely waxed eyebrows raise within surprise then, as the more affected girl then unexpectedly treated her with a quiet inquiry.

". . . . If The Princess's and my shared family has always hailed from such important standings, _anyway_, then why did my mother . . . feel the need to do what she'd done?" she openly pondered, a bit sickly, craftily omitting the headmistress from the equation, both Alexandra, as well as Blair had taken notice of.

The brunette watched as the avidly caring princess finally rose from her own seat and moved around it in order to rejoin Delancy by her side, hesitantly resting both hands upon her shoulders in comfort.

Alexandra felt herself frown a bit at this, suddenly feeling far more like the 'Black Sheep' of the less than unified family than she liked . . . especially given that _her_ vague 'sin' of sorts greatly paled within comparison to that of her _older sister's_, naturally. . . .

"Well . . . I don't suppose I can fully answer that for you, Delancy, though I dearly wish that I could," she stated gently, furrowing her brows once more upon further reflection of the evidently quite diabolical Dame Devin. "All that I _can_ say for certain is that your mother had _always_ been quite in favor of the high society life, and always seemed to want more and _more_, despite the _vastly_ comfortable settings we had all grown up within, originally. . . . It simply never seemed to be enough for her . . . which I suppose is part of the reason why she had concluded to journey here to Gardania, alongside our brother, who had bravely decided that he'd wanted a life of his own, _beyond_ the originally intended and natural inheritance of our family's business . . . which, last as I understood, is now instead within the hands of _some_ distant relative of ours or another."

Alexandra gently bit at her smoothly glossed lips, before continuing.

"Your grandfather was, of course, not at all pleased by Reginald's rather unappreciated decision, effectively disowning him in the process . . . and after he'd left home, left _Urien_ altogether, they never did see one another again," she trailed off a moment, gazing vacantly down at her plain, black stiletto pumps, as the palpable relevance to such an event between father and son was that much more great, due to what would soon follow years later. "_I_ had never been too keen upon the 'Ritz and glitz' of it all, you understand, preferring things to be _much_ more low key, and so I, _too_, had ventured out to more or less find myself, not too long after Reginald had departed . . . something which, I believe, had been far less impacting upon our father, as he had never intended to entrust his legacy to _me_ – _Or_ Nikole, after all. And then, true to form, _Nikole_, being the middle child, and having always possessed quite the penchant for general theatrics and desiring to be the _constant_ center of attention, had abruptly left home, as well, following Reginald's lead, as I'd stated earlier. . . . Sometimes I wonder if she had _just_ chosen to remain where she was, surrounded by her usual, familiar comforts and had simply been content with _that_, what Life would have made of her, instead. . . ."

Alexandra exhaled heavily to further illustrate her obvious disappointment over her elder sister's poor, roughshod choices, vigorously rubbing at her left temple and about to speak once more, when Blair then beat her to it.

"S-So . . . then if my father was evidently not of royal blood, or even grew up here within Gardania like me, how and, _when_ did he manage to meet my _mother?_" she naturally queried, appearing to have become far less resistant to the ongoing familial revelations which continually unfurled before her, than how she'd started out.

Even Delancy, too, seemed to have relaxed a miniscule bit, as she then returned her full attention onto her newfound, biological aunt and looked upon her with a good deal less conflicting emotion.

Perceiving this to be a good sign of sorts, Alexandra smiled faintly, before it slowly broadened into one of fond reflection.

"That had always been one of their fond memories, actually," she revealed warmly, her overall demeanor beginning to become a tad lax, as well, as she then gingerly leaned a bit against her desk. "It was during Queen Isabella's sixteenth birthday ball. Quite honestly it appeared as though everyone within the _entire_ kingdom had been within attendance, Nikole and myself, included. I had been visiting my siblings at the time, _especially_ my brother, I will admit, as he and I had always gotten on a good deal better than _either_ of us had with our sister, for reasons more or else already stated. . . . _Anyhow_, the pair had been living together for a little while then, as well, nonetheless, as Nikole never really _had_ been one for honest labor . . . and _dear_ Reginald, being the loving, downright _doting_ older brother he had been, took her in, while taking on various odd jobs to help support them both, until he figured out precisely what he wished to do with his life. He had always been _quite_ gifted with his hands, anyhow."

Blair lightly smiled at this, feeling, for the first, real time, an honest familial connection towards her parents, in this case, her _father_.

It made her wonder if it was perhaps from _him_ where she had gotten her _own_ sort of knack at tinkering with various objects and appliances, in addition to her generally sound sense of a good work ethic.

She suddenly found herself wishing, more than anything, to be able to ask the lost king first hand. . . .

Blair had been so entranced within her private thoughts that she'd nearly missed out on the rest of Headmistress Privet's ongoing tale.

"Your father absolutely _adored_ dancing, Sophia, you should _also_ know, and so whenever the opportunity had arisen, he was usually the first one to do so, with or _without_ a provided dance floor, or even appropriate _setting_ at that," she remarked within fondness, another exhale escaping past her lips before continuing. "It _certainly_ hadn't been the young eighteen-year-old Reginald's intention to _ever_ directly cross paths with the then Princess Isabella, naturally, intending simply to enjoy the wonderful, rather impressive festivities with the both of his sisters as his 'dates,' as it were. However, crossed paths they did indeed, quite _literally_, as, Bless her, The Princess, while within the middle of a waltz with, I can imagine, had been one of her many suitors at the time, accidentally bumped into him . . . and Reginald hadn't even been actively on the ballroom floor then! And the _poor_ man she had been dancing with had nary a chance to direct them within any _other_ direction, as _she_ had effectively been leading _him_, rather than the other way around. . . . Your mother hadn't honestly terribly been the most _gifted_ of dancers, Sophia, even during her later years. . . ."

Blair, before she could stop herself, let out a soft chuckle at this, her cheeks growing a bit rosy as she, indeed all _three_ of them realized just how strongly she could relate (_even_ right down to the bumping into a handsome young man within the process) . . . which made her once again feel a renewed surge of emotional connection toward the family she had regrettably never known.

"While I couldn't necessarily _personally_ discern whether or not it had been love at first sight between the two of them, I _can_ attest that there certainly had been a good deal of moments where cheeks were positively flushed, as well as downright _gawking_ on _both_ ends," Alexandra further disclosed with a fond simper, her pale green eyes growing a bit twinkly at the continued memory. "And although having never quite honestly been the _terribly_ suave sort of 'ladies' man' - As far _I_ had known, at least - Reginald had absolutely become a _prince_ within the making, as it were, that evening, the way he'd ended up pretty much _monopolizing_ the young princess's attention upon bravely asking for that first dance. . . . They would both always openly state how they had each found their best friend, their _soul mate_ within each other, you know. . . ."

Hesitating a moment, Delancy roughly cleared her throat, it feeling quite dry by this point, as she then asked, ". . . . And my _mother?_ Had _she_ ever been as lucky, herself?"

Both Blair and Alexandra gazed with a mixture of sympathy, as well as slight awkwardness, as the remaining female made reference to _her_ absent father, someone Blair had admittedly wondered a bit about from time to time, long before she had eventually realized her familial ties to either individual.

And while she _had_ fleetingly desired to pass mention to him during her earlier conversation that same day with her cousin, she had thought it wise not to do so, especially given that neither Delancy, nor even Dame Devin had ever made any sort of open acknowledgments to the man's lacking presence.

"I . . . would surmise that such a personal query would need to be answered by your _mother_, instead, Delancy, at least _fully_, anyhow," Alexandra began with a bit of diffidence of her own, turning her body a bit to the side in the process as she briefly looked away from the expectant girl, "however . . . I'd like to believe that there _might_ have been a time when even _she_ had found a bit of true happiness, as well, yes. . . . Your mother certainly _appeared_ to be quite smitten with your father, Diggory, at the time of their premiere meeting, anyhow, I can recall, about two years after we had all first made the Royal Family's acquaintanceship. The two had met when they were both nineteen-years-old, around the same time your mother had luckily – Or perhaps even _engineered_, given that Princess Isabella _was_ being steadily courted by your Uncle Reginald by that time, as well – her name being chosen during the 'Princess Charm School' lottery."

Now this was something Blair was finally a tad familiar with, recalling when both Hadley and Isla had revealed such a similar background story concerning Dame Devin. She then began to wonder if _Delancy_ had always been aware of this particular news, herself, at the _very_ least, given her rather hostile opinion she had openly shared with her upon their first meeting, all about the charm school's equal opportunity notion.

Blair did not have to wonder for very long, however, as she then listened as Delancy let out a slightly startled gasp at her side, before looking upon her to watch as her soft brown eyes slowly widened a moment before stating, "You mean . . . my _mother_ had entered this charm school's 'lottery' when _she_ was younger? I-I . . . I never knew that. . . ."

Blair lightly bit her lip a moment, wondering whether or not she should personally divulge the tidbit of information her two best friends had shared with her about it many months prior, or to keep it to herself. Instead, however, she bravely took a chance and decided to reveal it, feeling that perhaps if it had been heard from _her,_ instead of Headmistress Privet, then the overall sting might not be as resonant.

". . . . S-She had, Delancy . . . Isla and Hadley told me about it during our first week of classes," she said slowly, eying her cousin attentively and dropping her hands away from her shoulders, lest the other girl might wish to suddenly become a tad temperamental. She felt her cheeks grow a bit flush as both Delancy, as well as Headmistress Privet, focused their attention onto her. "W-Well, I mean . . . I just assumed that _everyone_ knew, really, that is, based upon the fact that those two knew, and _they_ don't even hail from this kingdom. . . . They told me that . . . that even though Dame Devin had successfully graduated with the rest of her 'Princess Charm School' class, in the end, none of the princesses had chosen her to be their lady royal . . . not even my _mother_. . . ."

"Princesses Hadley and Isla most likely knew of all of this due in part to the fact that their _own_ mothers had been within the same graduating class as Dame Devin, and the still Princess Isabella, Sophia. . . . And she had not been chosen by her, Delancy, because The Princess had desired that that position be filled by _me_, I'm a tad reluctant to admit," Alexandra remarked quietly, before Delancy might have been able to make any sort of following statement over her mother's regrettable as well as _humiliating_ rejection, even at the hands of her own soon-to-be sister-in-law. "It had been both hers, as _well_ as my brother's hope that _I_ would have entered the school's lottery for myself, alongside Dame Devin; however, Reginald, of course, and then later, Queen Isabella, knew that such a life – A royal associated life – was not for me. . . . By that time, too, when I had finally moved to Gardania, as well, I had discovered my niche, my _passion_ for _teaching_, enriching the minds of _so_ many youths . . . _especially_ that of young _girls_, as I felt that it was very important to alert each of them to their own self worth and capabilities at an early age. . . . I suppose that that could have been a part of the reason why I had been appointed the position of headmistress a few years later, once the former had inevitably retired, due to old age."

". . . . So everyone was rising up, while my mother steadily began to _fall_," Delancy murmured suddenly, a bit more so to herself, as she seemingly began to comprehend the rather hazardous inner machinations of her mother.

Alexandra blinked within surprise a moment, before slowly nodding within slight agreement.

"I . . . _suppose_ you could say that. Not long after their dual graduations, Princess Isabella and my brother were finally married, with Diggory, your father, Delancy, having been chosen to be his _Lord_ Royal upon Reginald's having become prince," she said with another nod, at last straightening her posture once more as she gently pushed herself from off of her desk. "The two men had evidently become fairly good companions while within attendance at 'Prince Charming Academy,' you understand, which is precisely why Dame Devin had been awarded the chance to meet Diggory at all, as the pair now ran within the same circles. Reginald had not necessarily been _required_ to enroll at the establishment, that is, before he could marry The Princess, and she . . . and in fact, not even the _rest_ of the remaining Royal Family had ever tried to persuade him to do so, but he'd _insisted_. He'd tell her, _and_ anyone else who would listen, that he wanted to make absolute _certain_ that he be the _best_ 'Prince Charming' she could _ever_ hope to know. . . ."

Both Blair, as well as _Delancy_ felt themselves becoming increasingly sympathetic toward their shared aunt, as it was clear that recounting such tales about her lost sibling was quite blatantly heartbreaking for her to do.

They watched, a bit helplessly, as the older woman suddenly turned her back to them both and curiously raised a hand to her face, undoubtedly in order to wipe away an oncoming tear from her eye. The slightly atypical moment was over as soon as it began, however, as Headmistress Privet already turned back around, her wheat colored complexion noticeably a bit flushed now, however green eyes completely dry.

"My . . . apologies, girls . . . I'm afraid that I had not anticipated that openly reliving such memories, even after so many years, would unknowingly affect me so," she confessed, a bit shamefacedly, before awkwardly clearing her throat. "But, then . . . I suppose it is also a _good_ thing that I am. After . . . After Reginald's demise, I . . . I'd honestly all but erased him completely from my mind, the grief had been too great. . . . And Queen Isabella . . . she had admittedly become my greatest friend as time went on, as we had shared a good deal in common, despite my dislike of being within the spotlight as would often occur while openly spending time with her, and naturally now having become a part of the Royal Family. . . . However, we _did_ so enjoy the company of each other, especially where it pertained to the charm school and further nurturing every princess and lady royal-to-be who would arrive through these halls. She would often assist within teaching a few of the classes, herself, whenever time permitted, I'll have you know. . . ."

Blair softly smiled, a bit forlornly at that as she continued to listen, once again feeling more and more rueful that nearly everyone else within the kingdom of Gardania appeared to know both her mother _and_ father far greater than she, their own _daughter_ did.

_. . . . And I have Dame Devin to 'thank' for that_, she suddenly heard herself think, her heart lurching within her chest within alarm, both at that, as well as the undeniable bitterness which then began to ice over within her veins.

Blair promptly felt guilty for it, as well, then, as she looked over at Delancy within the corner of her eye. She knew that it was neither girl's fault, what Dame Devin had ultimately chosen to do, nor would Delancy perhaps blame her for feeling as she presently did about it, she was sure . . . but she did not desire for the other girl to _ever_ become privy to it, lest Delancy then begin to take on her _mother's_ ultimate transgression as her _own_. . . .

". . . . I'm almost afraid to ask this, but . . . _when_, exactly, did my mother decide to regrettably plot her 'vengeance' of sorts against the Royal Family? Was it before, or _after_ she had brought me into this world with the help of her husband?" Delancy asked, a bit hollowly, her own contempt for the now imprisoned woman in question evidently beginning to creep to the surface, if only for the moment.

Both aristocratic teenagers watched as Headmistress Privet's cheeks curiously began to grow a bit rosier at this, causing her to look down at her re-laced hands a moment, before returning her gaze onto them both.

"Well . . . to be terribly honest, your mother had never actually gotten married to your father before you were born, Delancy . . . or, at least, had never the _chance_ to," she revealed, as delicately as she could manage, partially wishing that the reason being had been due to what both girls were most likely presently thinking, rather than the _actual_ truth she was about to then impart. "As I said earlier, I really _do_ believe that your mother _and_ father had shared something quite special between them at the start, at least, as special as can be _expected_, given . . . well, your father's rather modest beginnings, and your _mother's_ high maintenance and princess-like mentality she had always possessed, indeed having always originally intended to one day marry a prince, herself. . . . But _clearly_, there had just been something . . . perhaps rather _intriguing_ about Diggory which had ultimately persuaded Dame Devin to give him a chance, a move which greatly surprised not only myself, but our _brother_, Reginald, as well, for all of the reasons previously mentioned."

Alexandra, and then also Blair, watched as Delancy's formerly tight-faced expression then greatly softened, as she listened on about a tenderer side to her mother she most probably had never seen, nor indeed even _known_ about prior to now.

They then observed, and rather lamentably, as her countenance became marred once again, this time by the profound scowl which then began to darken it, most likely within the furthered reflection that her mother and father had evidently never gotten the chance to make their union legal.

Delancy hadn't the need to ask as to precisely why that had been, however, as her aunt had then merely pressed on and finally yielded the answer.

". . . . They had at least gotten _engaged_, I can tell you, shortly before learning that you would soon be arriving, Delancy . . . but, unfortunately, I believe that, by that time – Perhaps even a good while _before_, as things _had_ seemed a bit 'off' about their relationship over time – your father had evidently become less and less forbearing, as well as _forgiving_ towards your mother's . . . shall we say, 'demanding,' as well as _demeaning_ nature, as she appeared to have become far less accepting of his 'mere' position as Lord Royal, even if it _had_ been quite an important position, all the same. . . . And of course, I suppose couple all of that, with the fact that said responsibilities may have been getting to him, along with unexpectedly preparing to be a first time father, and . . . I'm sad to report that not only did he ultimately call off his betrothal to your mother, indeed the overall _relationship_, but he'd also abruptly resigned from his state, before decidedly returning to his homeland of Utari. . . . You can understand, of course, how positively _mortified_ your mother now was, Delancy, and even the Royal Family by extension for a time, as it had been quite the scandal for a little while . . . an unwed, more or less jilted relative of theirs who was _also_ now with child. . . ."

Both Blair and Alexandra appeared to be every bit as sympathetic as moments prior, while Delancy now suddenly looked positively _blanched_, as she unexpectedly let out a sharp cry and roughly shook her Jasmine tinted head.

"_N-No _more! I-I can't listen to any more of this! _Any_ of this! It's just . . . all too _much!_" she exclaimed with profound downheartedness, heatedly rushing toward the closed maple door to Headmistress Privet's office, and roughly opened it.

"Delancy, please! _Wait_ a second!" Blair fruitlessly pleaded with her effortlessly distraught cousin, starting after her as the other girl swiftly fled the vicinity without another word.

"Sophia, _don't!_ . . . . Just . . . let her be, for now," Alexandra gently advised, coaxing her remaining niece to stay where she was.

She watched with saddened eyes as Blair continued to stand within the open doorway with a hopeless expression of her own, as Delancy's emotionally affected frame gradually became smaller and smaller the further she'd distanced herself away from them both.

Only when Delancy could no longer been seen did Blair finally turn back around to face her mentor, her _aunt_, and flashed her a leery sort of expression as she blindly closed the door behind her.

". . . . You should have let me gone after her. She shouldn't be _alone_ right now, _not_ now, after everything we've heard today, and also experienced just _yesterday_ . . . it _is_ getting to be too much, like she said," she said weakly, trailing off into a light murmur as her blue eyes became downcast, towards the smoothly polished wood floor beneath her.

Alexandra nodded slowly within ample understanding, as well as commiserations, hesitating a moment before approaching the Gardanian Princess and placed herself at her side.

". . . . I concur wholeheartedly, Sophia, _believe_ me . . . and if it were within my power to take away even a _smidgen_ of the undoubted pain you both now feel for all of this, I _would_," she began quietly, stopping herself a moment, before willing herself to awkwardly settle a hand onto the younger girl's shoulder, "however . . . I could no longer, in good conscience, keep silent about all that I knew . . . about being of relation to you. . . . I had planned upon, as I'd said, telling Delancy all of this one day, most probably after her coronation as the new princess of Gardania, when I'd felt that perhaps a bit more of maturity would have been granted onto her as a result, and thus allow her to better handle this situation. . . ."

Blair, who had immediately looked up within surprise upon the feeling of the normally physically shy headmistress's hand upon her shoulder, slowly shook her head at this and asked, "But, then . . . didn't you think that it would have been _much_ easier to have let her know about this, well . . . honestly since day_ one?_ _What_ would have been the issue or harm in having done so?"

Exhaling heavily, Alexandra then moved away from the rightfully inquisitive girl, back to her desk, and finally took a seat once more. She roughly rubbed at her temples once again, as well, before she then spoke.

". . . . In retrospect, I suppose I _should_ have, of course . . . however, and I am _quite_ penitent to admit this, although at the same time a tad _thankful_ that Delancy has now left the room within the nick of time, as it were . . . but, I suppose I was a bit _shameful_, regarding my continued biological relation to her mother," she revealed, voice barely above a whisper as she slid her pallid green eyes away from the young blonde stood before her, and onto the surface of her desk, instead. "By that time, when Delancy had been born, that is, Dame Devin had _completely_ changed, once and for all, and into the . . . well, quite _vindictive_ and _manipulative_ woman I'm sure _you_ had observed her to be for yourself. . . . At first, I suppose I could not have blamed her much, her transformation, given the sore hand Life had thus far dealt her. I'd merely figured that that newfound, cold-hearted nature she now possessed was perhaps a _survival_ tactic, in order to prevent any further heartache or disappointment from _anyone_, or _anywhere_. . . . It was also around this same time when both your mother and father had become the new queen and king of Gardania, after your grandmother, Queen Charisma's passing. And so, it had perhaps been done as a sympathetic sort of gesture when your parents had given the title of 'Dame' to Nikole, and, when she was born, the higher title of '_Viscountess_' to Delancy. . . ."

". . . . A-And . . . _you?_ Weren't _you_ given any sort of noble title, having evidently been the more 'favored' relative of my father's . . . _and_ my mother's?" Blair asked tardily, doing her absolute best to dismiss her aunt's previous confession of having been quite ready to do the same sort of sentiment to the then infant Delancy, merely due in part to her shared genes with her mother.

She could feel her insides beginning to grow uneasy, the longer she remained and listened to the overall, sorted past of her birth family's history, making her wonder if she could withstand doing so for much longer, before she too, fled the scene, much like her cousin before her.

Alexandra slowly gazed back up at her niece and nodded, just as lethargically.

"Actually, yes . . . I _was_. A '_dame_,' as well . . . although, clearly, _I_ had never honestly worn _my_ courtesy title with as much regard as Dame Devin," she stated, a bit wearily, as though her continued admissions were beginning to weigh heavily upon her at last, as well. "In fact, I do recall almost . . . downright _pleading_, if you please, with your father and mother not to bother on _my_ behalf, at least; however, I believe it had also been Reginald's way of sort of 'giving back' to both Nikole and I, _especially_ to her, now that he was King and had the regal authority to perform such acts. Plus, it'd appeared to mean a good deal to him – _And_ to Queen Isabella, I remember – that it be done, and so . . . I simply gave in. Of course, with all due respect to them both, naturally, just because I had allowed them to bestow onto me such noble recognition, did not mean I had to continually 'tote' it around with me everywhere I went, as it were. I had spent a profound amount of effort, and _years_ building up the reputation I _still_ have today, thankfully, as a good teacher, a good _headmistress_, and I did not wish for anything else to overshadow that . . . which was why I go by the surname '_Privet_,' instead of 'Devin,' as it had been my _mother's_ maiden name, God rest. I suppose I thought that it might have helped to further differentiate myself from the overall royal lifestyle the rest of my family were now fully immersed within. Seems to have done the trick, as I cannot honestly recall the last time anyone, outside of Parliament, of course, has ever openly made any sort of connection to my kinship. . . ."

Blair, who had been wondering after the older woman's difference within last name, although she had naturally assumed that it had been that of a possible husband yet to be cited, slowly nodded as her only response, before the other woman continued.

"I'd never married, myself, you understand, _or_ had any children of my own, having always been more so preoccupied with my life's work, and all, which has sort of become like my 'baby' in that way, anyhow," she further revealed, evidently having somehow read the younger girl's thoughts moments prior. "I've never once had any regrets about this, mind. Besides, I was merely content with being an _aunt_, when the time came, although it _did_ appear to have been quite the struggle within the beginning for your mother and father, until at last having had you, one year after _Delancy_ had been born. . . . Again, I can sadly attest that I had felt a bit _more_ elation upon _your_ arrival than your cousin's before you. . . . I regrettably had honestly felt so . . . absolutely _certain_ that _any_ child of Nikole's would most probably grow up to be quite identical to her, by way of personality, even _misgivings_ . . . whether her children liked it, or _not_."

". . . . So, then, _that's_ why you kept your distance from Delancy in all this time," Blair finished within seemingly growing comprehension, as she moved over to her empty, previous seat and sat down again.

She wasn't honestly sure if she cared to hear anything further come out of the older woman's lips, lest her overall perception and ample respect for her _completely_ diminish, as it was now admittedly beginning to. . . .

". . . . Yes . . . and _no_, Sophia," Alexandra responded curiously, lowering her hands away from her temples and placed them gently onto her lap. "That is to say, yes, I _will_ own up to the slight prejudice I'd possessed against Dame Devin's child, _well_ before any of her developmental skills had even _begun_ to settle in. And, of course, said prejudice regrettably _deepened_, once Nikole had begun to _cruelly_ make remarks over how Delancy was beginning to look more and more like Gardania's _Heir Presumptive_, as your mother and father had yet to conceive then, and _also_ due to the fact that there were no _other_ living relatives eligible for the position. . . . Nikole's newfound, more or less _cutthroat_ behavior was positively _barbaric_ within my eyes, delicate circumstances of her past or no . . . and I had done all that I could to shield the both of your parents from her undermining nature, which hadn't been all _too_ difficult, as Nikole had always presented a much more _jovial_ and respectful sort of disposition whenever within their presence . . . _especially_ The Queen's, with whom she _still_ so desperately wished to earn better favor with in all that time, like the kind _I_ had experienced in her stead. . . ."

Blair, feeling almost petrified within her spot to carry on with the inquiry she was about to pose, slowly licked her sandpaper dry lips as she asked, ". . . . So, then . . . I suppose _that's_ when Dame Devin more or less . . . _snapped_, after my parents were finally able to have a baby of their own, and I unexpectedly came along, huh?"

Alexandra gazed upon her niece within astonishment a moment, perhaps at her given choice of words, before weakly nodding within confirmation.

". . . . For lack of a better term, yes, Sophia . . . _evidently_," she trailed off into a whisper, looking away from the young princess once more as she regrettably, although quite understandably felt her green eyes beginning to water for the second time throughout her heartbreaking tale. "I hadn't _known_ that Dame Devin had been the culprit of your parents' untimely accident, of course . . . _no one_ had . . . not until _yesterday_, naturally. . . . But I'd still had quite the nagging feeling about it, _especially_ given her previous statements of blatant resentment towards them _both_ and their standing, _and_ desiring for _her_ daughter to be ruler, not their _own_. And she _had_ been the last known person to see them alive, as well. . . . And then, there was the way she suddenly seemed to gain a _much_ stronger inner resolution than I'd _ever_ seen her possess throughout our entire lives together, _just_ when everyone _else_ around her were naturally beside themselves over the tragic loss of the entire, remaining Royal Family. . . . Not _once_ did I see her ever shed a tear about it, _or_ display not even a _moment's_ worth of natural vulnerability . . . although majority of the kingdom, and even _myself_, I'll admit, had merely believed it to be due to her desire to hold everyone together, and assure them that Gardania will somehow go on, thanks to Delancy . . . and, of course, by extension, _her_, also then having decidedly made herself a fellow teacher for the charm school, something I did not prevent purely out of relative sensitivity. . . ."

At this, Alexandra abruptly squeezed her eyes shut, before turning her brown head to the side within furthered shame as she continued.

"I _should_ have followed my initial instincts about everything at the time! After all, Nikole has _always_ been a natural born _follower_, not a _leader_ . . . no matter _how_ she'd habitually try her best to portray and have everyone believe _otherwise_, if her past track record is of any furthered indication, given that she'd decidedly followed after our brother to Gardania, for no other real reason except that she _could_," she breathed, with a bit of uncharacteristic hotness, before just as atypically abruptly slamming a clenched fist onto her desk, while still keeping her head tilted away from a now startled Blair. "If _only_ I had confronted her with my suspicions then, _then_ perhaps you could have been found _long_ ago, and justice would have at last been _served!_ But . . . _I_ had been, by then, _far_ too consumed within my _own_ private grief that I had honestly shut down, burying myself within my work more than ever before . . . as well as having grown even _more_ emotionally distant towards my remaining niece, as a result, although now more so within the great fear that she, too, might one day be lost to me. . . . Becoming sentimentally attached was now _quite_ crippling for me. . . ."

Blair felt her heart beginning to warm towards her newly discovered aunt once more, as she further began to realize that the woman was no more perfect than what Blair had originally perceived _Delancy_ to be, herself, and that honest mistakes had been made on _Headmistress Privet's_ end, as well.

". . . . I don't think you should blame yourself any further, though, about _any_ of this . . . and _especially _not about Delancy," she stated softly, silently debating whether or not she should get up from her chair, in order to physically comfort the rather afflicted woman before her. "It . . . may _not_ have been the best course of action, no . . . but at least you _were_ still there for her, in your _own_ sort of way, having lived within the palace together all of her life. And I'm sure that, once she's had a bit more time to let everything properly sink in, she'll forgive you, and then you can finally see for _yourself_ that she honestly is _nothing_ at all like her mother, as you'd thought . . . _and_ perhaps what had always been portrayed."

Alexandra, taking a moment to quickly wipe away at her now moist green eyes before looking upon her princess, slowly then did so, a mildly hopeful expression suffusing upon her lightly reddened face.

". . . . Do you honestly believe that she will? It's . . . It's _different_ for _you_, all of this, perhaps, as you _hadn't_ grown up within the palace, side by side with an unknown, remaining relative, who continued to _willfully_ keep you within the dark about such knowledge. . . . So, of _course_, you can be far more understanding about all of this than _she_," she remarked, a bit vacuously, before turning the rest of her body back towards the smaller girl. "No . . . I believe that it will take _far_ longer than 'a bit more time' for Delancy to forgive my admittedly poor, and _selfish_ judgment, if at all . . . _especially_ if she'd ever learn of my _initial_ reasoning within the first place. . . . However . . . I _will_ say that there _were_ a few times when I _had_ made attempts to reach out her as a child, beyond the typical teacher-student variety, that is . . . but by then it was even too late within _Dame Devin's _eyes, as she had more or less explicitly barred me _any_ sort of relationship with her daughter, besides that of an _instructor_. She'd stated, a bit rightfully so, that if Delancy hadn't been good enough to associate with right from the start, the way our _brother's_ child, _you_, had been within contrast . . . then _I_ will never be good enough to them _both_, other than to act as Delancy's future headmistress, as well as future royal subject once she would be crowned princess. I _was_ sorely miffed at the time, of course . . . but I can't honestly say that I can _blame_ the woman for having said so. . . ."

". . . . Y-Yes, but . . . you said so, _yourself_, that Dame Devin had _never_ really been an easy person to get along with, and that you two basically were never very close, yourselves . . . not like what you'd shared with my father," Blair began softly within disagreement, shaking her cornflower colored head for further emphasis, "s-so it shouldn't have honestly been that much of a surprise to her that you might have shied away from her, _and_ her extended family. . . ."

It was then Alexandra's turn to object, shaking her own head as she rose to her feet once more, moving around the desk and placed herself at Blair's side, while gazing, a bit lamentably at her closed office door.

". . . . Nevertheless, it was still wrong of me to have placed my tumultuous feelings towards her _mother_ onto _Delancy,_ as well . . . even _now_, right up until the abrupt, recent change I did manage to take note about her, within the last few days," she rebutted with a heavy sigh, continuing to stare after the sealed door, as though almost willing for the girl in question to magically return. "And, honestly . . . I will not be surprised within the slightest if she _never_ sees fit to forgive me. . . ."

Silence then fell upon them both, quite honestly a bit of a shared blessing, as well, as the pair were naturally feeling quite emotionally raw, and more or less spent because of it. Headmistress Privet seemed to be at last finished with her extended tale of woe, as she did not make another, renewed move to speak again, even after the seconds turned into gradual minutes.

And Blair would have honestly left it at that, eventually excusing herself from the room, had it not been for one, final nagging sort of inquiry which had then come to her, in light of recent revelations. And so, awkwardly clearing her throat, she looked up from her previously steady gaze upon her smooth hands within her lap, and fixated her periwinkle colored eyes onto the older woman still standing at her side.

". . . . U-Um . . . I do have one last question, Headmistress Privet, if you won't mind," she began delicately, evidently not having caught sight of the slight wincing motion the brunette then made which, further unbeknownst to her, had more so been due to the fact that the young princess continued to refer to her as 'headmistress,' rather than the mild hope to now be called 'Aunt Alexandra,' "but . . . is . . . I mean, is _that_ why you'd had been so willing to tutor me throughout this past semester? Because you perhaps already _knew_ who I really was, obviously well before I – And, indeed, the _rest_ of the kingdom had?"

Alexandra blinked within honest flabbergast at this, inclining her brown colored head to at last return the younger woman's stare.

"D-Dear me . . . I suppose I can understand how, and _why_ you would now think along these lines, Sophia, but . . . to tell the truth – Once _more_, of course – the answer is no, I did not," she replied lightly, before her lettuce green eyes softened, and a warm smile began to crease her wheat colored countenance. "Granted, I _had_ fleetingly surmised that you _did_ hold a considerable resemblance to Queen Isabella when you and I had first met, mind . . . and clearly _Dame Devin_ had thought precisely the same, as I can now better comprehend her profound eagerness to have you expelled from the charm school straightaway. . . . But, as for my tutorial assistance . . . I must admit that I had _eavesdropped_ upon a particular conversation you were within the middle of having with Princesses Hadley and Isla about your adopted family, on the day I had been on my way to your dorm room to deliver the unfortunate news of your impending expulsion. . . . If you can forgive the intrusion, however brief, I must _also_ tell you that having listened to you express such love, care, and concern for your mother and sister, as well as for their overall well being, had been rather admirable and uplifting, indeed. . . . As I'd told you during the following day, you truly _did_ possess quite a great deal of character, and _still_ do . . . just like your _mother_, I now realize. . . ."

Blair felt her cheeks instantly become drowned within a sea of redness upon listening to the respectable woman's kind words, and admittedly could no longer maintain their shared gaze because of it.

She then, perhaps within the continued spirit of emotional honesty, at last then uttered the words she had kept solely within ever since learning of the truth about her genealogy, due to a mixture of wishing to remain as affectionately loyal as always to her _adopted_ family, in addition to remaining as emotionally sound as she'd somehow managed to maintain in all that time, thus far.

". . . . I wish I could known her . . . known them _both_," Blair whispered remorsefully, lightly beginning to ring her small hands together out of furthered discomfort, as Alexandra once again slowly placed a hand upon her shoulder within admittedly futile solacement.

". . . . I know . . . I know," she whispered back, her heart beginning to crumble all over again, perhaps just as profoundly as she was certain her orphaned _niece's_ was within that moment.

Neither woman said anything more after that, or indeed even _could_, as the overall gravity of the situation had at last become too much to crawl out from underneath. And so they remained within silence, side by side and simultaneously trapped between a tragic, unchangeable past, and an uncertain, admittedly daunting _future_. . . .

**End of Chapter Two**

* * *

><p><strong>(A.N. Good job, Miss Privet: you'd bravely, more or less, anyway, finally revealed your family secret to the girls. =) She and Dame Devin honestly favor one another, some, face wise, just as she, Miss Privet, does to King Reginald, in my opinion, based upon the Royal Family Portrait within the movie. Plus, the way the two interacted with one another during their slightly private moments together, to me, it just went a tad beyond that of fellow colleagues...obviously not happy about it fellow colleagues. =) That, and while not as strong as Miss Privet's, Dame Devin, herself, did appear to have a slight accent, as well, although it was honestly more so made to be that of a 'snooty Diva' socialite sort of 'accent,' yeah. But for the sake of my story, I can now just say that the two accents are more or less the same, or at least originally hailed from the same vicinity, before Dame Devin's head got too big, or even bigger, and she'd decided to adopt the aforementioned sort of tone.<strong>

**Anyhow, I'm quite pleased with how this chapter had come out, story/unfolding wise, especially her comments all about Dame Devin's personal nature, back then and now. Not saying that it's unanimously the case, but I've personally found a good deal of middle children to be quite the handful...namely, my brother, and my brother's on/off girlfriend, so thought I'd make HER one. It would lend a bit more to her 'Miss Diva' and spoiled/childish behavior established within the movie, especially her motivations for wanting to bump Queen Isabella, and even her own brother... I've placed the siblings' ages to that of around one to three years apart, that is, Reginald had been one year older than Dame Devin, who is about three years older than Miss Privet. So I'll probably give both ladies the current ages of forty-one – Yes, like Ellen – and thirty-eight, respectively, just as a head's up. Also decided to make the present enrollment ages for both male and female charm schools to be between 17 to 19, the oldest, with Reginald just having technically made the cut off by the time he'd enrolled and later graduated,with having turned twenty during the overall process. Besides, he was the soon-to-be dual ruler of Gardania; I don't think anyone super super cared. LoL **

**Oh, right. And I know that, majority of the time, really, it's usually the positions of females elevate, while that of males pretty much remains as is, where kings and queens are concerned. You know, a prince becomes king and then, in turn, his bride becomes queen; however, on the flip side, a princess becomes queen and her guy remains at whatever previous royal status he'd had, thanks to that whole 'Kings are just more awesome/have higher recognition than queens, sorry' mentality, blah blah. **

**Anyhow, but in this case/this story, and their 'world' therein, I'd decided to scrap that, and make Reginald rise on up alongside his gal, and become king. =) Oh, and also having given him that whole non-originally royal background, anyhow, too.**

**And I know that it's also a bit like, "Well, how the heck could they NOT have known about Alex being of relation to the Royal Family, herself?" But it's probably like she'd said, herself, that over time, thanks to her having done such a bang up job to downplay all of that and instead draw sole attention onto her teaching career, it became less of a more well known fact over time. I know that I don't personally enough information to count upon my one hand about The Royal Family in England, for example, although I suppose I naturally wouldn't, as I do not hail from there...but my husband does, and he, as well, doesn't know of them inside out, so there. =) **

**Besides, I'm sure, given the few scandals they'd attracted, the Gardanian Royal Family, I mean, in my story, anyway, I highly doubt they'd be that much more forthcoming about their naturally private information, after all. **

**But, yeah. Once again not honestly sure anyone's even read to this point here, so I'll end my blurb here. Next update whenever.)**


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